Dark Connections
by tytaff
Summary: Darkness, temperature changes, and burning pain. That's what each felt. A strange black mist appeared for 3 teen heroes, causing them to question their sanity. For each hero, an oddly shaped bruise had been left in their skin. Now as Randy and Danny head to New York, they begin to query themselves and Jake can only hope to find the creatures with the same mark before it's too late.
1. Chapter 1 - Ultimate Stankage

Fate is a funny thing. No one ever knows what it's doing, what its intentions are, or really, what it even is. Sometimes it mocks people. Sometimes it's motivation. But every now and then, it seems to know what it's doing.

Norrisville was a fairly average town, if you excluded the constant monster attacks around the city and the high-tech pyramid plopped in the middle of the landscape, but every place has their own little quirks. Most of the people in Norrisville were average despite the funky hair colors and language. However, there was one person here that had a fairly interesting life, though most didn't know about it. He attended Norrisville High, a ninth grader that seemed fairly normal, despite his purple hair (of all colors) and tall height, but it suited him well. The boy sat at the front of his science class, fighting to keep his eyes open as the teacher rambled on about how living plants and animals used energy. His name was Randy, Randy Cunningham, and although he was losing consciousness, he felt a sharp prod in his should that pulled him back into reality. Randy looked over at his short and overweight friend, Howard Weinerman in confusion. The ginger haired boy simply rolled his eyes in response and returned to listening to the lecturing Mrs. Driscoll, using his left arm and hand to prop his head on. Randy sighed and returned his attention back to the front of the class. A smile crept onto his face as he thought of how good a friend Howard was. Randy knew he needed to pull his grades up, but his constant sleeping and spacing out in class due to his double life didn't help. He and Howard had come up with a shaky solution that involved Howard to wake him up in any class they were in together, but alas, it didn't always work.

"Don't forget class," Mrs. Driscoll's high pitched voice rang out as the last minute of the class began. "Tomorrow we will be preparing to leave for New York to study how the amount of energy used can affect an area. Be sure to bring your necessities for a weeklong trip." The bell rang just as the teacher finished her sentence, signaling the end of the period.

As the students began filing out of the classroom, Randy and Howard picked up their back packs.

"Man I cannot wait for tomorrow," Howard said ecstatically. "A week in the big apple! So many foods to try and places to go, it's going to be so bruce!"

"I know right," Randy joined in, his face twisted in a huge grin. "The only thing I can't get over is that our whole science class is going to be there. Not to mention the ninja will be gone for-" The teenagers words were interrupted as screams erupted from down the hallway.

"You were saying?" Howard remarked with a smirk. "Better get going, I'll stay here and man the lunch snacks while you're gone." He promised, sitting down out of the way and pulling out a bag of candy labeled _MCsquiddles_.

So remember earlier how I had stated that Randy wasn't as average as he appeared and that he was tired due to a double life? Well, with Norrisville and the constant monster attacks, _someone_ has to take care of them. The one to do this is an 800 year old ninja, or so they say. However, no one knows that every four years a new ninja is picked, a freshman at Norrisville High to control and remove these monstrosities from the town. Out of all the new students at Norrisville, Randy had been picked for this new role. Why he had was beyond reason with him, but obviously the Ninja Nomicon, the book of ninja knowledge, and the previous ninja had had their reasons for him to become the new monster fighter.

Randy's shoes skidded on the hallway floor as the freshman sprinted around a corner and into a bathroom. Checking to make sure no one was in any of the stalls, the purple haired teen pulled out a mask with red markings and yanked it onto his head and over his face. A flash of red and black appeared from the mask as ribbons began to envelope Randy's body, transforming him into the masked hero many people adored. Pulling out a red ball, the ninja threw it onto the ground, sweeping his body into a red smoke that transported him to a wrecking havoc monster.

When the ninja arrived at the center of the chaos, the monster had done a fair amount of damage in the gym. Several bleachers had been thrown into the wall and there was a considerably big hole in the floor where the basketball hoop had once stood. The monster was a recognizable one to the masked hero, a purple creature in a band outfit that was the stanked form of one of the school's band geeks known as Bucky.

"Alright Bucky," Randy yelled up at the beast. "I'd rather not lose all my MCsquiddles so let's finish this quick." With a "Ninja leap!" the ninja hopped onto the monsters back and used a "Ninja punch!" to smack the behemoth between the shoulder blades. The band geek let out a cry of discomfort as the pain shot through him, enraging him more and causing him to buck under Randy. The young hero jumped back onto the floor and used his "Ninja air fist!", knocking the brute across the room. However, the stanked Bucky managed to swat at Randy with one of his huge fists before being hit, causing the ninja to go flying into the wall.

"That…" Randy squeaked, picking himself up from the ground. "That was pretty good." The teenage hero was about to use his scarf to swing himself back to Bucky when a sudden black mist around the teen monster caught his attention.

"Black stank? What the juice?" Randy asked himself in confusion. Normally, the stank that possessed monsters was green, symbolizing the sorcerers (an evil villain attempting to get rid of the ninja and spread havoc) doings. He had only seen a different colored stank once, which was red, but it was directly from the sorcerer himself.

As Randy stood staring at the black stank while caught in his thoughts, his attention was snapped back into the present as he realized the mist was surrounding Bucky.

"Bucky," Randy said nervously. "What are you doing?" he asked, half way expecting a response even though monsters never talked back, excluding roars. As Randy watched he realized the black stank was absorbing into the monster, changing his appearance.

"Oh no, come on Bucky, that's _really_ not necessary. Let's just, um, hug it out or something. There's really no reason for that." Randy laughed nervously, creeping toward the now black beast. He had almost doubled in size and his band clothes were ripped in various places around his body. His now red eyes glared at the ninja and he let out a blood curdling roar before swatting at the hero, sending him crashing through the wall, outside, and into Principle Slimovits' car.

"What the juice Nomicon?" Randy managed to say as he picked himself up and pulled out the black and red book. "Black stank? I didn't even know it was possible. Help me out he-Oof!" The masked teen was pulled into the book without warning, his body going limp as his conscious left it. Randy floated down into a sewer of black and green book pages as the Nomicon began writing out a lesson for him.

"The holder of the black mist can mislead one from others appearances." Randy read out loud as the colorful words danced across the dark sewage water. "What the juice does that mean Nomicon? I could really use some info on how to remove the black stank, not mist covering more people." With a sudden flash and an angry thud, Randy was pulled back into reality as the book shoved him into the real world.

"Man, I never get straight answers." The ninja muttered as he stuck the book into the red fabric around his waist. At that moment the car that Randy had been hiding behind was picked up and chucked across the parking lot, revealing him to the now huge, black stanked Bucky.

"Ok, no biggie. We'll do this like any other way. Locate the source of the stankage and destroy it." The ninja said to himself, pulling out his ninja sword. "Ok, so now I just have to find Bucky's triangle dinger." Randy looked around for the green (or possible black) glowing dinger. He located it around the waist of the monster, surprisingly pulsing both colors. With a "Ninja jump!" the ninja launched himself towards the object, his sword pulled back, ready to swing down. Bucky, however, had other ideas and simply punched Randy away, roaring in anger and irritation at the hero's attempt to destank him. The ninja skidded across the grass field and into a tree. With a grunt he pulled himself back to his feet, stumbling slightly forward a few feet. Shaking his head to clear any extra pain, Randy took off sprinting back towards the monster, feet beginning to glow red. With a "Tengu fireball!" the ninja launched a flaming sphere at the monster, knocking him back, tearing the dinger out of his possession. Wasting no time, the masked teen swung his sword down onto the dinger, splitting it in two and releasing the green and black gas held inside. Randy sighed in relief as he watched the monster transform back into the blue and yellow dressed band geek, and the green stank flow back into a pipe. He was surprised though when he found the black stank still floating next to the dinger, whispering quietly. The ninja slowly crept forward, hoping to attempt to wave it off with his sword before it had time to find another victim.

Now, in times like these, not everyone has their wits about them. When faced with danger some people choose to run while others choose to fight it off or see what's happening in the very least. However it would be a smart idea to think about what they're doing first before going straight up to something that had just controlled another being. As Randy stepped towards the black mist it stirred slightly at the motion of his sword, beginning to back up. What it did next, surprised the ninja, and even slightly frightened him into immobility. The haze shot straight at the freshman, shrouding him in the darkness. His body grew extremely cold, and he felt his heart beat speed up as the mist entered his body. Randy had never been stanked before, and it scared him to think of what damage he might cause as a monster while still _being_ a ninja. He could potentially destroy the entire town without meaning it and no one would be able to stop him. Randy's vision blurred and slightly reddened as the rest of the black fog was sucked into him. For a moment he felt heavy, yet muscular, and powerful, and still at the same time he felt weak and nauseous, capable of barely standing up. Then his body suddenly brimmed with pain as he felt himself lifted off the ground, world steadily growing black as he let out one of the loudest shrieks he had ever screamed. It was like his very soul and body was being ripped from each other yet he was powerless to stop it. Randy had never felt any anything before like this excruciating pain, and he hoped he would never, if he did survive, ever feel this kind of pain again.

Howard usually wasn't one to tear himself away from a tasty snack, but when he heard a blood curdling scream coming from outside, his head snapped up faster than a dog catching a ball. Abandoning the hot dog he had taken out, Howard dashed off towards the back of the school as fast as his little legs could carry him. He had never been worried before when Randy had been faced with a monster, but then again, he had never heard a scream like the one he just had moments before. With a swift turn around the wall and out of the back doors, Howard's eyes quickly scanned the clearing and came to a black glowing ninja. Without another moment's hesitation, the freshman raced over to his friend, slowing as he came closer. Randy's body shook on the ground in a fit of pain, his eyes closed tightly as he fought against it. Howard didn't know what to do to help. He had no idea what it was and how to get rid of it, so, taking his chances, he reached out and shook the ninja.

The black mist recoiled as another being came into contact with it, surprised (if something without a brain could be) that it's ritual had been interrupted. After a few more moments, Randy let out small gasp as the fog was torn away from his body, the stank glowing a slight purple on top of the black. It retreated quickly, though not like the green stank. It simply vanished from thin air.

Randy slowly relaxed as he felt the pain fade from him. His sapphire blue eyes fluttered open, vision focusing on the current bluish and yellow blob standing over him until his vision focused and he identified it as Howard. He sat up quickly, shaking his body with pain again before reaching out a hand that Howard took. The overweight boy helped the ninja up, eyes brimming with worry. With a look that said "I'll be back in a minute", the ninja threw down a smoke bomb and disappeared. Randy found himself behind a tree and removed the ninja mask, sitting down as he did. He found that, after checking himself for any major wounds, his arm was the only place that was still pulsing with pain. The teen lifted up his jacket's sleeve and inspected the point of pain. A small black wing looking bruise was all the young hero found on himself, and after a moment's hesitation, he shrugged and pulled his sleeve back down, classifying it as nothing more than an oddly shaped bruise.

Randy and Howard met up outside of the cafeteria doors. The monster attack had caused the next period to be cancelled, so everyone was doing their own thing. Howard anxiously inspected Randy quietly, a bit out of character.

"Howard, I'm fine, honestly. Just a bit bruised on the arm. Otherwise, like I said, I'm fine." Randy insisted. Howard pulled up his friends sleeve to inspect said bruise.

"Cunningham, it's not every day that the ninja encounters black stank as well as being fully covered in it. I don't trust it. It can't have been _harmless_. Stank doesn't just grab people and then leave suddenly, am I right?" Without waiting for a response he continued. "And this bruise doesn't even look right. It looks like some crazy mythical wing or something. Bruises don't do that." Howard pulled the sleeve back down and crossed his arms. "I'm going to keep a close eye on you, you know that right?" Now Randy was just plain confused. A stupid little bruise shouldn't cause his friend to go completely out of character but he sighed and shrugged it off.

"Ok, but I'm telling you I feel fine." Randy muttered as the bell rang, signaling school was over. As Howard and Randy ran out of the school, glad the day was over, Randy's eyes did an unthinkable. They flashed _red._ He didn't notice, but of course, how could he?


	2. Chapter 2 - Black Pumpkins

**(Authors Notes)**

**Wow, I'm kinda surprised at the progress of this story already! I'm so happy at the amount of followers already, but seeing as this is my first fanfiction, that's ok right? X3 Yay! Anyways, this is chapter 2, and I hope it's ok because I was dealing with distractions every now and then. X) Please Review, it makes me happy to see comments! Let me know if anyone seemed out of character or something didn't flow quite ****right! :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom, Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja, or American Dragon Jake Long**

**I wish I did -_-**

**BTW, No outcomes from Phantom Planet or Hong Kong Longs exist in this story. **

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Chapter 2 – Black Pumpkins

A loud bang of metal against cement rang out across the small town of Amity Park, creating an ear splitting screech. A glowing knight with purple flaming hair picked itself up off of the ground, grabbing several blood orange pumpkins from his belt. Taking aim, the knight hurled the three pumpkins at a black and white dressed boy in a jumpsuit with dove white hair and toxic, neon glowing green eyes. The boy, who looked to be in his mid teen years, jumped out of the path of the pumpkins, hands glowing green as he tumbled away from the explosion that had resulted from the vegetable. The teen thrust his now bright green hands out in front of him, allowing a vivid green ray to shoot towards the knight who nimbly dodged out of the way. The man in shining armor allowed his own unnatural green eyes to begin glowing purple, suddenly shooting out a violet ray towards the white haired teen, much like his own. The jump suited boy flew back into a tree as the ray met with his chest, temporarily winding him. The knight charged forward only to be shot back by a blue beam, enveloping his leg in ice that appeared from nowhere.

"Danny!" An African American teenager with a red beret and pastel yellow shirt shouted out at the green eyed teen. A metal container left his hand as he tossed it towards him. "Catch!"

The oddly dressed boy reached out and grabbed the cylindrical container from the air, twisting the lid off and pointing it towards the knight.

"Say goodbye Fright Kni- huh?" The teen, whose name appeared to be Danny, stopped mid sentence, looking around in confusion. "Where'd he go?"

"He was here just a minute ago…" The African American stated.

"Thank you captain obvious," A Goth girl chimed in. She wore a black shirt with a violet circle in the middle, black and green plaid skirt, and purple leggings with black boots. Her raven black hair swished with the motion as she turned her head, amethyst eyes glaring at the African American, words dripping in sarcasm. "I'm pretty sure we all were just aware of his presence Tucker."

"I'm just saying Sam," The African American by the name of Tucker retorted as he pulled out a PDA. "Maybe I can find the Fright Knight on my ghost locater." He said aloud, tapping a few things on the screen. After a moment of waiting and a few anxious beeps, Tucker slowly dropped the PDA from his view and put the device back into his pocket. "That's strange. No other ghosts in the area except Danny. The Fright Knight just vanished from thin air." He explained to the two other teens standing in front of him.

Amity Park was what seemed to be a normal town, but under all the people, buildings, and extreme strangeness, the town was a hotspot for ghosts. That's right, ghosts. However, as ghost attacks became more frequent, the people of Amity Park became accustomed with it and had managed to fit the problems into their schedules as a regular way of life. Much like Norrisville, Amity Park had their own 'ninja' to deal with the problem, a few ghost hunters, but mainly the ghost boy known as Danny Phantom. This ghost, however, was not like the others that haunted the town, he was actually a regular teenage boy (as regular as a teen can get with ghost powers) that attended Casper High School, a sophomore by the name Danny Fenton. The only people that knew of Danny's secret ghost life was his high tech loving friend, Tucker, Goth friend, Sam, and his overprotective sister, Jazz.

Danny stood and thought for a moment, then simply rolled his eyes and exhaled.

"Well, as long as he's gone from town, we should be fine. Let's just hope he doesn't come back any time soon." Danny cautiously looked around before letting a flash of white light and two bright blue rings drift over his body, one traveling up and the other traveling down. As the rings did so, his black and white jumpsuit was replaced with a white and red t-shirt, jeans, and red sneakers. His snowy white hair and emerald eyes were altered into pitch black hair and bright, ice blue eyes. Danny's human half now stood before Sam and Tucker, eyes glancing up at the sky, scanning for any more ghosts.

"We should probably get to get school. I don't think any of us need any more absences on our report cards." Tucker commented, seeing that the time was 7:15 on his PDA. "After all, anything could happen within the next 15 minutes to delay us from getting to class."

"School," Sam sighed, kicking at a rock on the ground. "One of the many joys of life."The trio headed off towards what they called the "prison of education."

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The school bell rang as the three teenage friends skidded into their first period classroom. The run in with their school bully, Dash, had taken a bit longer than usual days. He had, after all, forced them each to eat the three gummy worms he'd found that morning on his way to school. The pure disgust and feeling of the rough and chunky gummy worms traveling down their throats had left Danny, Sam, and Tucker puking for five extra minutes as they attempted to be rid of the vile candy. Their nauseous looks were still plastered on their faces as each teen sat at their desk, awaiting the untold boredom Mr. Lancer would teach that period.

Danny's eyes watched the out of shape teacher in front of him quietly, barely listening as Mr. Lancer went over the wonders of public speeches. His mind drifted in and out of various thoughts, eyes slowly closing, before coming to one that caught his attention. The fight with Fright Knight earlier that morning. Why would a ghost, especially one with so much power and determination, vanish from a fight so suddenly? It was unusual for a ghost to do something like that. The next connected thought stumped Danny as well. Why had Tucker's PDA not been able to pick up on the Fright Knight's ectoplasmic signature? Had he really disappeared from the area? If so, How? And more importantly, Why?

Danny's unanswerable questions were suddenly interrupted by the harsh calling of his name coming from the front of the class. His clear blue eyes snapped open as his head suddenly jerked up, heart fluttering from the abrupt alert to his surroundings. For half a second the teenager thought there might be a ghost attack until he saw the amused eyes of his classmates bearing into his own.

"Mr. Fenton," sounded the somewhat feminine voice of his teacher. "I would very much appreciate it if you would _not_ take a _nap _in my class. I'm sure your grades would appreciate it too." Mr. Lancer said calmly as he turned back to the chalk board, picking up a piece of the powdery chalk.

Danny rolled his eyes quietly, somewhat returning his attention back to the lesson. It wasn't entirely his fault that he had to stay up at night and catch ghosts along with having to finish homework. If only he could get a little slack from his teachers and parents every now and then, his life would be so much easier.

Danny's slowly dropping head snapped up again as a sudden shiver passed from his chest and out of his mouth, the air in front of him slightly fogging as his ghost sense appeared. Danny's eyes examined the room silently before he slowly raised a hand, hoping Mr. Lancer would see it. The teacher sighed as he caught the motion in his peripheral view and twisted to see who it was.

"Can I go to the bathroom?" Danny asked as soon as he spotted the teachers green eyes glance at him.

"Mr. Fenton, class just started," Mr. Lancer stated in annoyance. "As you know, you should have gone before class started. I'm afraid I'm going to have to reject your question."

"Please, it's an emergency." The teenager pleaded, knowing that at any moment chaos might break loose.

Mr. Lancer opened his mouth to reply when the shattering of glass erupted from the back of the room. Each student stiffened in the silence, awaiting a ghost to come crashing in, but none did. Instead, a small black pumpkin sat on the ground, eerie and mysterious, while the room began to grow colder. Mr. Lancer crept towards the broken window, peering out to see who or what was there. Surprisingly, the area around the gaping hole in the wall was clear, not a sign of life appeared.

Danny's heart sped up as Mr. Lancer crept closer, thoughts rushing through his head. _What is it, a pumpkin? Is it one of the Fright Knights? What does it do? Should I warn Mr. Lancer or help him? What if it explodes...?_

Mr. Lancer slowly stooped down and poked the black vegetable. When nothing happened, he picked it up and examined it quietly, noticing a symbol that looked like a mythical dragon's wing.

"Well, well. This, class, is an attempt at a way to interrupt our education and strike fear into all of us. If you would ever like a more ridiculous way to stop a class, I suggest throwing a blue carrot at a window. That might just get you noticed and, if you're lucky, a detention." The teacher and vice principle tossed the pumpkin away into the nearby trash can, wiping his hands on the front of his shirt. "Now, for the second time this morning, might I continue?"

Danny looked over at Sam and Tucker, confused. He was met by the same look from his friends, bewildering him even more. None of them had any idea what had just happened. The teenagers were sure the pumpkin belonged to the Fright Knight, Danny's ghost sense could confirm that, but why had he thrown in a pumpkin that had done absolutely nothing? More so, what was that strange mark they had seen etched into the black vegetables side and how was it relevant to anything?

A sudden smoking from the trash can caught Sam's eye as she looked at her friends. Craning her neck to see around Danny, she pinpointed the smoke coming from the trash can that had just welcomed the pumpkin. Sam quickly jerked her head at the wastebasket to alert her friends of the smoke.

Danny and Tucker both turned their gaze to the object Sam had been gesturing to. Danny stiffened, his eyes growing wide as the haze appeared. He rotated his hips and legs out from underneath his desk, attempting to stand up but he was quickly prevented from disposing of the threat when the out of shape teacher turned towards him.

"Mr. Fenton," Mr. Lancer said through clenched teeth, his patience thinning. "Is there something you or your two accomplices would like to say?" he asked, gaze scanning over the three of them.

Danny immediately cringed. He wanted to tell his teacher of the trouble but it could result in questioning of how he would have dealt with the problem. Just as he came up with an excuse to the educators question, the trash can exploded, plastic pieces raining down on the now screaming teenagers. The smoke remained for a few menacing seconds before springing to life, charging straight at Mr. Lancer who had currently began shouting directions to leave the class room. Danny's eyes broadened.

"Mr. Lancer, look out!" he screamed, dashing towards the teacher. He launched himself at Mr. Lancer in an effort to push him out of the way, but it was too late. Mr. Lancer's body was already flattened on the floor, his eyes opened wide in terror and pain. Danny and the rest of the kids that still lingered in the classroom stared at their teacher in horror as he began to glow, his screaming increasing more. The vice principal's eyes faded into a blood red, as well as long, intimidating claws grew from his fingers.

"Everybody," Sam said quietly. "We need to get out of here without making any sudden movements. Slowly turn to the door and walk calmly out." She instructed, turning herself. The rest of the teens followed instructions quietly, glad somebody was taking charge.

Almost all of the students had filed out of the classroom before Lancer let out an ear splitting cry, scaring the rest out. The teacher had risen to his legs; his body pitch black and covered in menacing knight's armor. He held a red sword in one hand that glowed slightly black, the blade glistening from the sun pouring into the room. His shining ruby colored eyes glared at Danny, filled with hate. The teen hero clenched his fists tight, ready to throw a punch if needed but instead, Lancer phased into the floor, leaving the trio alone.

"Come on!" Danny said to Sam and Tucker, transforming himself into Danny Phantom as the ice colored rings swept over his body. The ghost boy grabbed his friends' shoulders, turning himself intangible and allowing the power to pour from his body into the two other teens. He dove into the floor as Lancer did, coming into the next room and spotting the haze covered teacher terrorizing a science class room.

Danny placed Tucker and Sam on the floor before charging at the medieval dressed vice principle. The hit sent Lancer flying into a cabinet, catching him off guard. The knight pulled himself out of the metal doors and turned to face Danny, red sword shaking in his hand. He launched himself at the ghost teen who dodged out of the way, snickering slightly.

"The guy may look scary but he sure does fight like Lancer." The hero commented, ducking from one of Lancer's punches. "Come on Lancer, I'd love to do this all day, but you need to make a hit some-" Danny's sentence was cut short as a metal fist collided with his stomach, sending him crashing into the ground. He looked up slowly as his breath came back, somewhat discombobulated. Danny huffed and pulled himself back up into the air, glaring slightly. His hands glowed green as he charged his ghost ray, aiming it at Lancer. The beam shot at the knight who simply deflected it with a spinning sword, sending it back to Danny. The ghost boy ducked, ray flying over his head and erupting on the chalk board at the front of the class, leaving it smoking slightly. Danny hissed quietly, slightly irritated that he had misjudged Lancer. He hurled himself at the teacher, intangibly flying through the armor and body and coming up from the back. The hero swung a fist at the back of the knight's head, landing a blow that temporarily left him winded on the ground.

"Tucker, the thermos!" Danny yelled down at his friend. At the sight of a distraction, Lancer's evil form raised his sword, preparing to swing it down onto the ghost in front of him.

"Danny, look out!" Sam screamed urgently. Danny turned, seeing the sword as it began to come down upon him. He attempted to dodge but the blade caught his side, leaving a fairly big gash.

The ghost teen screamed in pain as the blade came into contact with his body, ectoplasm and small amounts of blood beginning to pour from the wound. As the sword came back to Lancer, the slight black hue it had been carrying vanished, now instead forming around the slice in Danny's side. With the black haze now gone, Lancer dropped to the ground, his red eyes returning to their natural green. The teacher returned to his regular form, armor dropping off of his body before disappearing into thin air as well as his black skin returning to its paleness. Lancer was curled up on the floor, slightly dazed from the riot that had happened moments before.

Danny however, was not lying on the floor in a daze, but in mortal pain as the black smoke drained into his wound, filling him with more agony. His cold, ghost body suddenly burst with heat as if he was surrounded by fire, causing beads of sweat to roll from his forehead. His body began writhing on the floor as Danny fought with the pain, screaming even louder.

"Tucker we have to do something!" Sam said, panic rising in her voice. She ran to Danny's side, Tucker joining her as they watched their pain stricken friend.

"What do we do though? We can't suck it into the Fenton thermos, Danny would be trapped too!" Tucker stated. Sam looked at her friend then at the wound on Danny.

"Here," the Goth said, fear slightly filling her voice. "I'll try to drag it out, into myself leaving Danny free. While it's coming towards me suck it up with the thermos." Sam explained. Tucker opened his mouth to object but knew the other teen would tell him differently. He nodded and backed up, uncapping the ghost thermos and aiming it at Sam. Sam stood and bent down towards the wound, reaching out to touch it. The haze around the cut parted as Sam touched the gash, leaving her completely smoke free. She grunted in annoyance and waved at the smog, stirring it. For a moment she was about to give up, but her doubt was put aside as the mist swirled out of Danny's body and towards her.

"Tucker, now!" Sam yelled as it began to cover her. With a push of a button and a whirring noise, a bluish-white light poured from the thermos, enveloping Sam and sucking up the black smoke. Sam and Tucker silently looked around them and checked themselves before grinning. Then, suddenly remembering their friend, they dashed back over to him.

Danny's eyes snapped open as Tucker shook him gently, slightly scaring both of the teens hovering over him. He slowly sat up, putting a hand to his throbbing head as he scanned the room in front of him.

"Is it gone?" he asked Sam and Tucker slowly, looking down at his stinging side. Tucker nodded, putting up the thermos proudly.

"Are you ok? I mean," Tucker started rephrasing as he received a glare from his ghost friend.  
"Do you feel any different?"

Danny shook his head, regretting it as the throbbing increased in his brain. "I don't feel different, just the cut on my side and a headache." He informed his friends. The gash had now reduced itself to a small cut, a bruise slightly around it. Danny stood up slowly, transforming back into a human. "I should be fine by lunch."

The three friends left the room quietly, forgetting Lancer on the ground. They headed towards their first period classroom to grab their backpacks for the next period, talking quietly. As Danny grabbed his backpack from his desk, he felt his tongue flicker from his mouth awkwardly and unintentionally. He cocked his head in confusion as he wondered why he might do something like that.

"Hey Danny, you're getting better at healing yourself," Tucker commented. "Now you only have a small cut in a bruise. It looks weird though." Danny looked down at his side, seeing that his friend was right. Shrugging it off, they headed towards period two, wondering what boring thing their teacher would be saying about the ghost attack. The bruise had looked weird though, Danny realized as they rounded a corner. It almost looked like the winged symbol they had seen on the black pumpkin.

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**There you go guys, chapter 2! let me know how you felt about this chapter :) **

**Updated 08/04/13**


	3. Chapter 3 - The Dark Mist

**(Author's Notes)**

**Woo! Chapter 3 is out FINALLY**. **I know I took a while to get this one out... Sorry 'bout that. *sheepish smile***

**Anyway, it's here! So you can continue. I've already got chapter 4 done so I'll be posting that probably today! (Hopefully it'll make up a bit for the wait :)) As well as that, I want to get myself on a schedule, so hopefully I'll be posting at least one chapter every Sunday (probably not this Sunday since you guys are getting two chapters today but yeah...) so that should help your nerves. **

**Hopefully this chapter is ok, I haven't watch American Dragon thoroughly since a few months ago so the characters may be a _little _rusty. hehe. Ok, I'm done! Chapter 3!**

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Chapter 3 – The Dark Mist of the Undead Forest

Dull. Boring. Stale. Those were a few words to describe the situation this teenager was in. Jake Long, a freshman in high school that sported a red and yellow jacket and blue denim shorts, sat silently in the back row of his history class. His mind wasn't paying attention to the lesson at hand, but was instead thinking freely about what would happen after school. He hoped his grandpa wouldn't have too much training for him, but with gramps you'd never know. He was jostled from his thoughts when a whisper sounded beside him.

"Yo Jakey, you up for the skate park later?" A dark skinned girl asked. She wore her hair in two buns atop her head and had on a light blue long sleeved shirt with a dark blue hoodie on top, a little panda face covering the center. Her tan pants rustled as she tapped her foot, waiting for an answer.

"I'm in Trixie." Jake answered back, fist pounding her outstretched hand "Let's just hope we make it through school without dying of boredom." He joked

* * *

Jake sat at the top of the half pipe, watching his other friend, Spud cruise from side to side. Trixie pulled her skate board up and sat down next to Jake, sensing something was up.

"What's up with you?" she asked the black and green haired teenager. Jake sighed and shrugged.

"Just a little tired. Sometimes I feel like I'm the only one in the world with my kind of problems." He explained. It was true to him, as far as he knew. Besides other magical creatures, he had never met a kid that had to keep as big a secret as him. He was thankful that at least Trixie and Spud knew about his problems, but it still didn't put them in his place. They would probably never understand to the full extent of what he was going through.

Trixie had half a mind to slap the boy, but pulled her hand back and directed it to Jake's shoulder instead for comfort.

"I know it gets hard Jake, but you'll pull through. You always do. I'm sure there are at least a few more teens that feel the way you do, whether they're part dragon or not." She tried to reason. Jake grunted in response, translating into "yeah, I doubt it." Trixie rolled her eyes and instead nudged Jake rather than retorting back.

"Come on Jakey. Instead of sitting here why don't you see how many times you can skate this half pipe before wiping out. I bet Spud could beat you."

"Hah! Yeah right." Jake stated in amusement as he stood up. "Yo Spud! Up for a little skate board challenge?" Without waiting for an answer, Jake pushed himself off of the top of the half pipe and began skate boarding.

* * *

Jake had just started his fifteenth round on the half pipe when a phone began to ring. He skated to the top of the structure and grabbed his phone from his backpack, glancing at the caller before flipping his phone open and answering.

"What's up Fu?"

"Kid," Jake heard the voice over the phone. It sounded tired and anxious with a dash of worry. "We got a problem, a big one. Get down to central park as fast as you can."

"Wait, Fu! What is-" _click_. Jake grumbled a few words under his breath before shoving his skateboard into his backpack. "Trixie, Spud, there's something going on down at the park. You comin'?"Jake asked as he descended the half pipe.

"Not much else to do." His friend in an orange shirt with a blue alien top over it replied. He adjusted his beanie hat and skated over to Jake.

"Yeah Jakey, we got your back." Trixie stated. Jake smiled.

"Thanks guys. Dragon Up!" He felt a sudden rush of warmth as flames took over his body. Wings sprouted from his back and a tail grew as his dragon form appeared by his friends. His red scales glistened in the sunlight as the dragon picked up Trixie and Spud and took off into the sky, speeding towards the park. As they neared and hovered over the greenery, Jake's eyes grew wide. Below him, a dark haze covered the area, obstructing any view from the actual park underneath it. The dragon heard his friends gasp quietly.

"Jake, what _is_ that?" Spud asked quietly.

"I…I'm not sure." Jake replied back quietly. "But let's find Fu first, maybe he'll know what to do."

"Over there." Trixie pointed to a small gray blob at the edge of the park which Jake quickly soared over to.

"Fu, what is going _on?" _The teen dragon asked as he set his friends down. A grey, wrinkly dog turned to him as he heard his name.

"I can't explain it all," the dog responded, sliding a paw over his head in frustration. "But the gist of it is that this is the dark mist of the undead forest. The only way to stop it is to scare it off or have it leave by its own free will." Fu quickly explained.

"And how do you scare it off?" Jake asked impatiently, sensing it wasn't just going to say "Hey! I'm done here." and walk off or whatever it does. He was worried it was going to begin wreaking havoc any moment.

"Ah, well, that's the thing…" Fu mumbled quietly. "It has to have a host body before it can be frightened off."

"So you mean-"

"Jake!" Trixie cut in suddenly, terror filling her voice. "It's got Spud!"

Jake spun around, spotting Trixie crouched down in fear as their friend rose up off of the ground, glowing a slight black. Spud's eyes were blood red as he hissed at the three beings in front of him. His hands had grown in size, now holding five ferocious claws where fingers would usually be, and he had grown torn, black leathery wings from in between his shoulder blades. Angered, Spud swiped one of his enormous hands at Jake, sending the scarlet colored dragon sprawling across the ground and further into the mist. Jake could hear Fu and Trixie shout for him as he picked himself up off of the ground, but the haze barricaded any sight farther than about five feet. The dragon tensed as a hiss sounded behind him, causing him to twist for a view.

Nothing. Nothing but black fog and the constant whispering coming from it.

Then a sudden blow between his wings sent Jake to the ground, groaning in pain as the tingly sting traveled through his body. Before he had time to get up, throbbing erupted from his cheek as he felt claws slice through the scales, blood beginning to form. The red liquid dripped from his face and back as Jake stumbled to his feet, eyes narrowed as he waited for the next move. There, beside the blackened bushes, the smog stirred at sudden movement as something flashed across his vision. The dragon hero spun as a figure launched itself at him and slid away from the shape's path. It instead landed on a tree trunk and pushed itself back towards Jake, who quickly shot fireballs at it. The black mist parted in pain, revealing an unconscious Spud underneath. The young hero shot himself towards his best friend, arms outstretched for a hit. The mist reacted quickly and sunk into the ground with it's host, suddenly disappearing. Jake looked around in confusion, wondering how it had taken his friend straight through into the ground. Agony seared through his stomach as a blow from under him sent him flying into the sky. The possessed Spud shot into the air, torn wings beating as he flew towards Jake, claws expanding towards the dragons legs. Jake's eyes snapped open as he felt himself plunging back towards earth. He opened his wings and rapidly began flapping in order to stay airborne. His legs were pulled from their position suddenly, leaving him in a dive position towards the ground. Ignoring the pain, the dragon twisted back into a hover stance, turning towards Spud. Instead of a possessed Spud however, his friend was suddenly falling back towards the ground, his appearance normal again, as it had been when they had left the skate park. Reacting quickly, the hero sped to his friend and grasped his arms, safely freeing him from gravity. The smog rose into the air behind Jake and 'vanished' as he swooped back to the ground by Fu and Trixie, gently lying Spud down and stumbling back a little.

"Is he going to be ok?" Trixie asked Fu in worry. Fu hesitantly nodded, checking the unconscious boy's body. When he found nothing out of the ordinary he gave a more firm nod.

"He'll be fine. We just need to get back to the sho-" The gray dog was cut short as Jake dropped to the ground on his knees, panting heavily.

"Jake! What's wrong?" Trixie questioned, running over to her friend. The dragon opened his mouth to respond but instead of words tumbling out, a heart stopping scream erupted from his mouth, his body shaking as he fell and rolled onto his back. "Fu!" the girl shouted.

"Oh no," Fu whispered, abandoning Spud as he went to Jake's side. The black mist burst from the dragon's body, hued a slight red as it enveloped the boy more. Jake's head spun with the pain, his body going extremely cold as the fog spread through him. He felt like he was about to explode from the pain and chills running through him, shrieking even louder as more agony joined in.

"Trixie, hand me that stick over there." The wrinkly canine commanded, pulling out a bag of red dust from one of his wrinkles. He took the tree limb from the teen and opened the bag, spreading some of the crimson powder over the end. The stick suddenly lit up, turning the area around them a slight red hue. Fu pointed the now red stick at the still squirming Jake on the ground whose eyes were clenched closed. He jabbed the teens scratched leg, spreading the dust over it quietly. As he did so, the smog began to retract from the dragon's body, the pain ebbing away from Jake, leaving him more and more relaxed by the second. Finally, a small gasp escaped the hero's mouth and his eyes snapped open, startling the dog and girl next to him. He sat up slowly, reverting back to a human before looking up at the dog.

"Is it gone?" he asked in a hoarse voice.

"Yeah kid, good thing I had some blood blossom dust on me, it could've been a lot worse had I not."

"Is Spud and I going to be ok?"

"You should be. As far as I know neither of you have the mark-"

"What? What mark?" Jake asked, fear lining his voice.

"Oh boy…" Fu Dog murmured as his eyes locked onto the small bruise on Jake's leg.

"What? It's just a bruise right…? Right?" Jake forced out a laugh, hoping he was correct.

"We need to get to the shop now. I gotta whip up an antidote before it's too late." Fu dog said, barely audible to the two other teens that were awake.

* * *

Back in the shop, Jake and Trixie sat on the floor next to Spud, who was on the couch. Jake sighed and turned his head, feeling guilt wash over him as he realized at least half of his friend's condition was his fault. Fu busily worked in the back, adding various magical items from beakers, phials, and other containers into a small bowl. With every item added, the color of the liquid in the bowl would change, leaving the room flashing colors within each minute that passed.

"Here kid," Fu tossed Jake a book as his head emerged from the curtains. "I gotta keep mixing this antidote but I wanted you to know at least something about that spot on your leg. Page 13. Let's just hope two other people or creatures aren't in possession of a bruise like yours." The dog explained before ducking back into the room.

Jake glanced at the red and black cover of the book with the title _**Secret's of the Undead Forest **_before flipping to page 13 like the canine had instructed. _**The Dark Mist **_labeled the top of the page, a dark and swirling hologram appearing from the paper to show the reader what it looked like. When the image flickered away, Jake began to read aloud for Trixie and possibly Spud to hear.

_The dark mist of the undead forest is extremely rare to come by. When summoned, the mist is able to destroy, weaken, duplicate, possess, enhance, mind wipe, cause hallucinations, and/or kill any creature that comes into contact with it. In certain cases an antidote can be prepared using blood blossom, toad wart, ogre sweat, a strand of pixie hair, a dragon scale…_

Jake skipped past the items used for the remedy and continued reading.

_However, the antidote will only work if the Dark Mist has encountered and left it's master's mark on less than three creatures. If this is the case, than the only way to free the three or more creatures is to return the mist to the depths of the undead forest, in the cave of darkness next to the stream of death. Failure to do so before a quarter of a moon can result in one or more of the effects mentioned above. _

The teen paled as he read the last line of the paragraph, startled by the information. He hoped to the dragon council that he was the one and only creature with the mark. Jake scanned the page before closing the book and putting it on the coffee table, catching a few headings that mentioned tracking the mist, the mist's origin, and a few other useless topics at the moment.

Trixie's voice brought Jake back from his thoughts of horror.

"It'll be alright Jake, you're a strong guy and you'll be able to handle this. Heck, we don't even know if the mist has been to two other people before us so it's not even sure that these side effects will be happening." She tried to reassure.

Jake was about to reply when Fu emerged into the room, holding a glass of black liquid.

"Done," he announced, holding it out for Jake to take. "Chug this down kid, and you'll be mark free." _I hope._ The dog added to himself silently. Jake grasped the cup in his hands which turned red upon his touch. Fu cringed, already predicting that this would not end well. As the liquid touched his lips and flowed into his mouth, Jake felt a small tingly feeling begin to course through him before swallowing, a slight taste of lemon left behind. The trio waited, watching Jake's leg for any sign of a disappearing bruise, but nothing happened.

Fu finally broke the silence. "Well kid, looks like we've got some creatures to find. I can whip up a tracker potion and have it to you by Saturday, but who knows where the creatures could be by now. You might be traveling to Hawaii or further by then."

Jake sighed. "Aw man…"

* * *

**There's Chapter 3 for you guys! Please tell me how you liked it, Review!**

**Updated 08/15/13**


	4. Chapter 4 - Nightscares

**Ok, well yeah. This chapter is shorter than the others, (down by about 1,000 words actually) but nothing much really goes on so...yeah. Since I already got my rambles out in the last chapter, I'll spare you more. Haha.**

**Chapter 4! :)**

* * *

Chapter 4 – Nightscares

_CRASH!_

Randy's head snapped up at the sudden sound, immediately rousing him from his sleep. Moonlight poured into the room as the teen looked over the edge of his bunk bed at the area around his room, hoping to see any signs from where the noise had sounded from. His lamp lay on the floor, the light bulb inside shattered in a million pieces on the ground.

_What the juice? _Randy swung his legs over the side of the bunk and jumped down, padding over to the fallen object. The teen's cobalt eyes scanned the floor and nightstand from where the light had dropped, looking for what had caused it to tip over. The boy shrugged and picked up the lamp's body and shade, placing it back onto the nightstand. Then he trekked out of the room to fetch a broom for the smashed glass scattered on the bedroom floor. As he neared the linen closet, a creak from behind him made Randy freeze in his tracks. He strained his ears to pick up any more noises that might occur and out of a slight terror he clenched the ninja mask that had been stuck inside his pajama shirt out of precaution.

_Relax Cunningham, _he tried to reassure himself. _You're just a bit jumpy after the lamp fell. There's no one up beside me right now. _The teenager threw away his fear and quietly opened the closet, grabbing the broom and dust pan. He used his foot to kick the door closed again as he turned around and headed back to his room. Kneeling onto the floor, Randy quietly swept up the glass before depositing it into the trash can in the bathroom. He reached for the light switch but a blur of black and purple from the corner of his eyes caught his attention. Twisting back around to the mirror to see what it was, Randy shuddered at the sight. A figure stood in his place, it's clothes and body swarmed with the black and purple stankage the ninja had fought the other day, his eyes a frightening blood red and a malicious grin covering the face. Was that… _him? _No… no, it couldn't be. Tearing away from the view, Randy looked down at his hands in the now dimly lit bathroom. They were the normal pale skinned color they had always been. The teen looked back up at the mirror hesitantly, hoping that the nasty figure had gone, but it was still grinning back at him, as if it wanted Randy to try and think otherwise. A blink later, and the figure was gone, leaving Randy to his normal appearance staring back at him and questions swarming through his head.

* * *

"And then it was gone."

Randy stood next to his friend as he recalled the events from the night before, telling Howard all that had happened leading up to the incident in the bathroom. Howard grunted quietly as the two entered Mrs. Driscoll's room for period one as they had been instructed the day before, dropping their suitcases and taking their seats, whispering quietly before class began.

"I told you that stank hadn't left. Now it's decided to haunt you."

"I don't think it's actually haunting me though," Randy countered, trying to assure both of them. "It wasn't actually there in the bathroom. Maybe it was just, I don't know, a hallucination or something?"

"I'd assume a side effect," Howard retorted back, popping a few fries from the lunch room into his mouth. "Well, whatever it was it's gone now right? Since we're going out of town we can't really do anything. Just tell me if something like it happens again and we'll go from there. How's that bruise?" Howard asked, changing the subject.

Randy lifted his sleeve. "Still there, still the same. It doesn't hurt as much as yesterday though." Randy explained. He rolled his sleeve back down as Mrs. Driscoll entered the room.

"Welcome class," Mrs. Driscoll began. "I'm sure you're all excited to be going to New York." Anxious yells rang out from the student's as they cheered for their half vacation away from Norrisville.

"That being said," Mrs. Driscoll continued once the cheering had ceased. "This is still a school based trip and of course there are a few rules we must go over." The class sighed.

"Ah ah ah," Mrs. Driscoll walked to her skeleton husband, Jerry, and began moving his mouth, attempting her ventriloquist act. "Rule's are needed to keep all of your _bones_ in tact!"

Bucky's laugh rang out across the room. "Skeleton Zing! Mr. Jerry!"

"Shoob." Howard mumbled under his breath.

"Oh Jerry," Mrs. Driscoll gave her dead husband a flirtatious look. "Anyways, let's go over the rules.

"Rule number one: You will each have a partner that will stick with you the entire time. I know that I will regret this," the science teacher paused. "But in order to make this trip doable for you all, I will be letting you choose your partners." Excited hollers crossed the room at this news.

"Number two: You are to be back at the hotel by 9:00 sharp, no matter where you are. At the time we will have role call to make sure everyone is there. If you fail to show up, your punishment will be assigned once we find you, or you return.

"Number three: There will be no _bone picking _(That was Jerry 'speaking') with anyone of any sorts, student, teacher, or other." Bucky chuckled under his breath, just loud enough for the front row to hear.

"Shoob." Randy muttered.

"If anyone see's any fights breaking out they are to report to a teacher immediately. Punishment will be assigned to the culprits.

"Four: 'School' hours will occur from 10:00 to 3:00. Now yes, this is shorter than usual but seeing as it's really only one class, longer hours weren't needed. We will have lunch at 12:45 which will accompany a role call before and after. Once role call is over you have an hour to eat anywhere in the area. There are also restaurants that have been kind enough to give us school discounts, and I will pass out the badges once we get to the hotel.

"Last rule, number five, of course be careful and adhere to the rules. We don't need any students missing or in the hospital when it is time to leave." With that, the science teacher pulled out her role call sheet from her desk drawer and busily began to call attendance.

"This is going to be bruce!" Randy whispered in excitement to Howard. If they had been outside they would have performed their secret bro shake, but it would have to wait. "I can't wait- here!" Randy called as his name was said. "-to check out all of the shops and see some things that are the cheese!"

"I know! Oh that sweet, deep fried food I can't wait to taste. It is going to be _heaven_." Howard replied, drool beginning to drip from his mouth as he thought about hot dogs, burgers, pizzas, and so much more.

"Here!" Howard answered as Mrs. Driscoll called and finished the list of attendance, wiping the drool away.

"Ok class, grab your things. The buses are here and ready to leave so let's get these _bones _on the road_._" Mrs. Driscoll joked as she began rolling Jerry out of the room, leading the class to the buses. Randy and Howard were the last two student's to board they're bus, their smiles big enough to scare someone. They sat at the back of the bus and began talking enthusiastically to each other about the next week that was to come.

As the buses departed, a shadowy figure rose from the ground where the vehicles had been moments before. The emerald colored eyes faded into a crimson red as it stared after the buses, narrowing to slits as it smiled viciously. It sprung into the sky above the leaving classes, feet becoming an odd tail, it's spiky hair blowing in the wind. The hair almost looked white, but there was so much of a black and green mist covering it's body that it was hard to tell.

* * *

**Please Review! I love to see what you people have to say, it helps me write!**

**Half of my brain: _Ty, you should really start planning these chapters. It would help you out in a long run._**

**Other Half: _Ha! Planning is for the weak! I got this. _*takes a minimum of 2 hours to write a chapter***

**Half of brain: _Mmmhm. Suuurrreeee_**

**No but I really should plan, I just hate it. A LOT. With like, every fiber in my body. X3 **

**Updated 08/15/13**


	5. Chapter 5 - Toxic Copies

**Hello People! Here's a surprise chapter (I kinda surprised myself when I started writing it X3) for all of you's! So I was thinking, instead of posting a chapter every Sunday, I'll go with _at least _one chapter a week _by _Sunday at the latest. Am I a genius or what? (Haha, don't answer that ****-_-) Anyways, please review! :)**

* * *

Chapter 5 – Toxic Copies

_BEEP, BEEP, BEEP._

Danny's alarm began ringing as 6:00 A.M. came, waking the teenager from his slumber. The raven haired boy groaned and reached out, hitting the snooze button on the device before rolling back over and pulling his covers above his head, allowing the relaxing warmth to surround him. It had been a long night for the ghost fighting teen. Skulker had crawled out of the ghost zone and released three ghosts to lure the ghost boy out. Then, while Danny was busy with one of the three specters, Skulker would attack from behind, causing Danny to get distracted and allowing the other ghost to escape. In short, Danny had been out until two that morning, catching and recapturing four ghosts until he had finally succeeded, yet when he got home the bruise on his side had continuously shook him from his fragile sleep, allowing him to probably only get two and a half hours of stable slumber.

BEEP, BEEP, BEEP.

Danny's eyes fluttered back open as his alarm rang again, signaling five minutes had already passed. The teen hero huffed and pushed the blankets off of him, placing his feet onto the floor and trekking to the bathroom across the hall. He turned on the shower and brushed his teeth as the water warmed, thus beginning the morning preparation for school.

* * *

When Danny arrived at school, Sam and Tucker were waiting by his locker, talking to each other until their other best friend arrived. Danny nodded to his friends as he opened his locker and shoved his books inside, sighing to himself quietly.

"So, how'd it go?" Tucker asked, amusement lining his voice.

"How'd what go?"

"Danny it was 12 this morning when we left and you were still fighting Skulker. Did you give up or catch him?" Sam replied to his question as they began heading for class.

"Oh that. It went ok after you guys left I guess," Danny waved his hand as he said so, gesturing with the words. "It took another two hours, but I eventually caught them all."

"Ok, just making sure. That plus the black smoke yesterday is just a bit much, isn't it?" Sam asked.

"I'll be fine. I'm just glad it's Friday. Hopefully I'll just get to relax this weekend."

The trio rounded the corner and walked into Lancer's class quietly. They were surprised however when they saw Mr. Lancer standing at the front of the classroom. Danny, Sam, and Tucker had been sure they would have a substitute after yesterday's attack, but there was their teacher and vice principle watching students come in. His eyes had bags under them and every now and then a shiver would be visible from Mr. Lancer's body. The three teens shrugged at each other and took their seats as the bell rang.

"Ok class," The teacher's voice squeaked a little at the end. "We will continue or topic of public speech and then I will give you time to create a speech that will be shared with the class on Monday." A few students moaned at this announcement before being shushed by Mr. Lancer.

"It can be about any topic, so long as it is school appropriate, and the speech must last from three to five minutes maximum. Now, we left off…"

* * *

Half way into class Mr. Lancer announced that the students could begin writing their speeches. Danny took out a few sheets of paper and a pencil and began thinking of a topic with the tip of his writing utensil on the paper. As he found a topic a sharp pain jabbed his side, causing him to cringe. He looked over but everyone else was busily coming up with and writing down their speeches. Danny returned his attention back to his paper, but again stings erupted from his side. He bit his lip from the pain and tried to ignore it, but a gentle tap from Sam broke his focus on the paper.

"What?" Danny hissed in annoyance.

Sam hesitated, taken aback from the teen's irritated voice. She nodded her head to his cut. "It's glowing," she whispered to him. "_Black and green._"

Danny glanced down at his side, the pain growing as he deliberately thought about the wound. "I should-" a small gasp escaped from his mouth as agony slammed into him. The teen hero clenched his eyes closed, biting his lip harder. He raised a shaky hand, eyes still closed from the pain, hoping Lancer would look up from the papers on his desk quickly. Lancer raised his head, sighing as he identified the requesting person.

"Mr. Fenton, as I said yesterday, you should have gone before class," The teacher spoke, not even bothering to call on the teen. "You can go…after…class…" he murmured, seeing the intense pain on the student's face. "Daniel, are you alright?" the vice principle walked over to the sophomore quickly, reaching out a hand. Danny jerked back at Lancer's touch, gasping at the pain again. He now had his hands gripping the sides of the desk, nails leaving scratches as he dug them into the wood.

Mr. Lancer stared at his student, unsure what to do. He was about to tell Danny that he would write a nurses pass when the boy stood and quickly ran out of the classroom, stumbling a bit as he did. Sam and Tucker jumped up from their seats and ran after the other teen calling out, "We'll make sure he's okay Mr. Lancer!" before disappearing from the room after their friend.

Sam and Tucker's shoes made small squeaking noises as they raced after Danny, following him by the little splatters of blood on the hallway floor. They stopped as the ghost teen barged into the boy's bathroom, catching their breath for a moment before Sam burst through the door, not caring that it was the opposite gender's bathroom. Both 15 year olds ran to Danny who was curled up in the corner, panting quietly while gripping his side.

"Danny," Sam started, kneeling by the boy. "Where all does it hurt besides your side?" she asked. Danny opened his mouth but no words came out, just a few squeaks and coughs. He shook his head, trying to get the words to leave his mouth but couldn't. The teen instead slouched down further, focusing on the pain instead of trying to explain himself.

"Tucker, grab some paper towels and wet them." Sam instructed moving Danny's hands from the wound. He shook his head again as Sam tried to remove them from his side, groaning from the motion. Tucker handed Sam the wet paper towels and knelt down beside his friends.

"I know it hurts dude," Tucker said, eying the cut. "But Sam and I can help. Just move your hands and we'll put the paper towels on it immediately."

Danny inhaled quietly, beginning to move his arm away. He cringed as air hit the gash, jerking his arms back quickly but was stopped by Sam who laid the towels on it. He gasped as the water mixed, creating a more intense sting. Danny bit his lip again, tears beginning to form in his eyes.

"There, see?" Sam said quietly. "You'll be ok in a minute…" the three sat in silence for a moment before they realized that the bathroom had become foggy.

"Must be the smoke stuff from the cut," Tucker murmured as he watched more drain out from under the brown papers. "You don't think-"

Danny screamed.

He screamed so suddenly that Sam and Tucker jumped back in pure terror, tripping on each other's feet before stumbling and falling back to the ground on the other side of the restroom, eyes widening as they watched their friend. The coal haired boy shook on the ground as more green and black haze came from the wound, piling up in the opposite corner. The pain slowly began ebbing as more smog heaped into the corner, leaving Danny struggling less. Sam and Tucker however were watching the fog in shock. It was slowly beginning to take a form, and although the colors didn't match and made it somewhat harder to identify, they knew who it was. Danny exhaled quietly as he was able to open his eyes again. He looked at his startled friends then switched his gaze to where they were looking. There, standing in the corner, covered with black and green mist was… _him._ This 'him' was a Danny Phantom with crimson red eyes and a bucket load of haze that allowed only the features on his face to be somewhat detailed. It grinned, and then sank into the floor of the bathroom, laughing echoing around the walls. The three stood, blinking their eyes as they tried to process what had happened.

"What…?" Tucker began.

Sam and Danny shook their heads, too shocked for words. What… _was that?_

* * *

Sam paced back and forth as the two boys sat at their lunch table outside, thinking about what had happened during first period.

"Ugh," the Goth sighed as she stopped mid-pace. "I don't understand! What was that? It was obviously the stuff you fought yesterday but how did it… _clone _you?" Sam asked, exasperated. Danny shrugged, rubbing his temples.

"I don't know," the boy sighed, angry and confused. "Right now all I can think to do is find the Fright Knight and demand he tell me."

"What if you can't find him though? And more stuff like this keeps happening?" Tucker asked with a worried expression. "Things could get a lot worse too. I say we figure out how to get rid of your gash and bruise first, and then we find either the Fright Knight or your duplicate." The African American concluded, taking a bite of a chicken leg.

Sam nodded, slightly surprised by her friends thoughts. "Tucker's right. That gash is your biggest problem right now."

"Fine, we'll head to my house after school and figure it out." Danny huffed, tossing away the apple core as the bell rang.

* * *

The trio trekked into the red bricked house after school, heading to the basement which doubled as a science lab immediately. The three teens looked around, wondering which invention would help them get rid of Danny's wound.

"Well, uh, I guess we could start with a blood sample?" Tucker suggested, picking up a microscope from a shelf and placing it onto the metal table.

"I guess," Danny said hesitantly, spotting a slide. "Sam will you hand me those tweezers?"

As the Goth grabbed the tweezers another voice sounded from the top of the stairs, calling down.

"Danny?" a ginger haired girl with a black top and blue pants emerged into the lab, looking at the three other teens in confusion. "You guys didn't even stop to put your things down in Danny's room. Is everything ok?

"Sort of. We're just trying to figure out how to fix this cut on my side," Danny informed his sister. "It's nothing… too big though Jazz."

Jazz snorted. "Yeah right. Anything that draws you immediately to the lab can't be good. Let me see."

Danny huffed and pulled up his shirt, exposing the green and red wound which was beginning to crust over. Jazz gasped as she laid her eyes on the cut.

"Danny!"

"It's not too bad Jazz! We just want to fix it quickly."

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Usually you guys would just put some gauze over it and let it heal. What makes this one any different?"

The three 15 year olds stood in silence, trying to come up with an answer.

"The truth Danny." Jazz said sternly, tapping her foot.

"Well it…sort of…" Danny started.

"It duplicated him." Sam finally said, swiping the wound with the tweezers and setting the blood onto the microscope slide. She and Tucker began inspecting the sample under the device while Jazz and Danny continued talking.

"What do you mean 'it duplicated him'? What did?"

"Well there was this black smoke yesterday that came from what we think was one of Fright Knight's pumpkins," Danny said, rubbing a hand over his face. "Then it possessed Lancer, who cut me with this sword and the black mist entered this gash. Then today some of the smoke came out of the wound and duplicated Danny Phantom." He explained quietly. Jazz stood quiet for a moment then shook her head to clear her thoughts.

"What can I do to help?"

"Jazz, we don't need-"

"What can I do? I'm a part of this team and I want to, so tell me what I can do."

"Actually right now we don't really know what to do ourselves. I guess just keep mom and dad out of the lab." Danny said, turning towards the microscope. Jazz was about to demand something else when a loud, booming voice came from upstairs.

"Jazz! Danny! Come up here, we have something to tell you." The voice said. Danny sighed. Knowing his luck, this announcement would make the current situation worse. The four teens headed upstairs and were met with a man in a bright orange HAZMAT suit and a skinny woman in a blue HAZMAT suit as well.

"Mom, Dad?" Jazz asked, seeing the smiles on her parents' faces.

"Have any of you heard about that massive black mist outbreak that happened yesterday in New York?" The 15 year olds and 17 year old shook their heads. "Well, our sensors indicate that this mist is somehow connected to ghosts! How exciting is that?" Their mom finished in joy.

"This weekend we're going to New York to find out more! We've already found a hotel and have set up our tests for this 'mysterious mist'. We leave tomorrow in the Fenton Assault Vehicle! " The dad informed, bouncing a little.

"Can Sam and Tucker come?" Danny asked after glancing at his friends and seeing their desperate expressions.

Danny's mom sighed. "We asked but the Foley's are supposedly 'busy' and we all know your mom and dad hate us Sam." She informed with a hint of bitterness.

"Oh trust me, we'll be there Danny. We have to figure out this bruise and cut situation." Sam whispered.

Danny groaned quietly. They were heading to New York and as far as he knew his friends weren't coming. Not to mention a mysterious smoke was swirling inside of him as they spoke and most likely an evil duplicate was out causing chaos. Could this weekend get any better?

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**Ta-Da! And it starts *evil grin* Hopefully next chapter we'll get a more 'crossy-over' with the shows and I've already got the chapter where Danny, Randy, and Jake meet each other for the first time planned out so hopefully you guys won't have to wait much longer for that. I'd say maybe two or three more chapters before that one. :P**

**If you haven't noticed, I'm switching POV every chapter so next one will be Jake (and like I said possibly a run in with one of the others, leaning towards Randy right now :)) so cha. I'll talk to you guys next chapter! And again, Please Review! :)**

**Updated 08/21/13**


	6. Chapter 6 - Deadly 'Friends'

**(Author's Notes)**

**Yay! Chapter 6! :3 I like dis chapter so far, I hope you guys will be as excited for it as I was! Finally, hopefully some of your questions in your heads will be answered (Well, before being filled with more questions as I didn't strictly give many answers out in this chapter. Hehe).**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom, Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja, or American Dragon Jake Long**

**If I did they all would have been crossed over with each other many times. -_-**

**I don't know when Chapter 8 will be out, I'm thinking I'll get chapter 7 out tomorrow, but I start school on the 27th, _on Tuesday._ *Cries* **

**I also want to answer some of the people that reviewed! Yay! Thank you guys! You made me smile when I read them! :D**

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**Review Question and Answers:**

**First of all thank you to all the guests' who reviewed and left your comments. Yay! I'm glad you guys like the story! **

**And to the guest who reviewed on the 21st ("Well, our sensors indicate that this mist is somehow connected to ghosts! How exciting is that?"  
Me: We're all fucked.) Thank you. I give you a virtual hug! *hugs* because you made me laugh hard enough to have my mom ask me what happened. X3**

**_Matt_: Your guess would be correct. Each chapter is placed in the same day so that I hopefully don't confuse people. So yes, Chapter 4 and 5 were very much just a few hours a part since Randy and Danny we're both in period 1 at the time of Danny's... sickness and the odd appearnce of the figure in Randy's chapter. :)**

_**Totally Unoriginal Pen **__**Name**_**: ****Thank You! :3**

_**little**_** nightingale2****: Thank you for fangirling all over my review box! I loved it! :3 To answer your request for more Randy pain: Pain shall come. (X3) That reflection Randy saw in chapter 4 was a hallucination so it wouldn't have caused much pain. Trust me, I have much in store for each character so hopefully you're ok with waiting some more! :)**

_**Gliss**__** Phantom**_**: Thank you! **

_**Nerdgirl3**_**: Thank you too! XD And to answer your question about my favorite character... I'd have to say Danny. I just, I don't know! He's just adorable and I love his personality and nerdiness and just yeah! But I love all of them too! **

**Thank You to everone again!**

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Chapter 6 – Deadly 'Friends'

"Alright kid, you've got a leprechaun family at the outskirts of town. 88 and 89 are closing in fast." Fu Dog's voice sounded through Jake's phone.

The teen dragon groaned. "Those knuckleheads? I thought they would have given up by now."

"Well they're persistent and you can't stop it. But you can stop the kidnapping of leprechauns. You better get to it before you're traveling all over town looking for them." _Click._

Sighing, the young dragon tucked his phone away in the small brown bag he was carrying and began flapping his scarlet colored wings faster, catching an air current. The shop had received a distress call from a small leprechaun family reporting that they were being chased by the ex-Hunstclan members 88 and 89. Jake had actually been surprised that the two cowards had been able to scare a magical family, but nonetheless, he had jumped right into the mission of saving the creatures.

The dragon now hovered over a small gas station, scanning the ground below with his enhanced vision. He swerved down carefully towards the back of the station, guessing that a group of magical creatures would hide out there.

Except they weren't.

Puzzled, Jake reverted back to a human, scratching his head. Had the leprechauns already moved? Maybe 88 and 89 beat Jake to them? The teen remembered that some places in New York had secret passages and areas designed for magical creatures; perhaps there was one inside. Deciding that this could be a possibility, Jake walked around to the front of the building, opening the dirty door and walking in.

Inside, the gas station had a musty, moldy smell about it. Many of the wooden shelves were chipped and missing chunks of wood from them. The food products, souvenirs, and other knick knacks leaned heavily against each other, and a few even looked outdated. Jake held down the urge to turn around and leave and instead headed to the front counter where an old looking gentleman sat with a newspaper, appearing as if he hadn't noticed the rare visitor.

"Um… Hey." Jake said, waving his hand to catch the man's attention. The man slowly looked up from the article he was reading, a small hint of disgust plastered onto his face.

"May I help you?" He said with a voice laced in a western accent.

"Uh. Yeah," Jake started, trying to find the right words to ask if he knew about the leprechaun family hiding out somewhere. "I was wondering…if, you know, you had some kind of… leprechaunish things around here?" The teen winked, hoping that if the man knew anything, he had caught on.

Instead of a look of understanding, Jake received a grumpy scowl. "This is New York kid, not Ireland. Go back to the cottage you came from." The man ended his sentence with a taunting laugh that quickly morphed to a cough. Jake narrowed his eyes but turned and walked towards the door, kicking a beer can on the floor. As he opened the door, it collided with something, which suddenly let out a grunt.

"Ow!" A voice sounded from the other side. Jake looked up in shock and quickly stepped outside, coming face to face with a teen that looked to be his age.

"Oh man, sorry! I didn't see you there." The black and green haired boy apologized, standing awkwardly to the side as he waited for the other boy to recover. As the other teen took his hand away from his nose, Jake smiled in embarrassment, blinking at the sight. The boy had sapphire eyes that were currently brimming with tears from the impact of the door to his nose, a bluish-gray looking jacket with a red shirt underneath, black jeans, and purple shoes that matched his hair color. Jake was trying to figure out if the hair color was natural or dyed when he realized the boy was speaking.

"No big deal," he said, sniffing and smiling as he rubbed away the automatic waterworks. "I've taken a lot harder hits." There seemed to be amusement in his voice. The dragon powered teen blinked and after a moment smiled back.

"Yeah, well, I'm still sorry," Jake held out a hand which the purple haired teen shook. "I'm Jake." He introduced.

"Randy," the teen announced back, shaking the outstretched hand. "I don't mean to be personal, but what are you doing out here? I'm pretty sure you didn't get off my bus," Randy chuckled, jabbing a finger over his shoulder at the yellow vehicle. "And I don't see any other cars here…"

"Um," Jake's mind worked furiously as he tried to come up with an excuse. "I uh, well… I'm just… picking up a special food for my gramps. He says they only sell it here." He lied.

"Ok…" Randy said hesitantly, looking at Jake's empty hands.

"Oh," Jake said, noticing that Randy saw him empty handed. "They… didn't have them today. I'll have to come back next week. Crazy huh?"

Randy shook his head slowly. "Yeah. Crazy."

"Cunningham! We're about to head out. Got the snacks?"

"Not yet Howard," Randy called out to the bus. Jake could see a ginger haired teen sticking his head out of the window. "I gotta go, nice meeting you Jake." The boy said as he turned back, opening the gas station's door.

"You too," Jake said, smiling again. "Oh, wait!" Randy turned his head, pausing in the door way. "How old are you? Just out of curiosity."

Randy smiled. "14, a freshman from Norrisville High. What about you?"

"I'll be 15 next month." Jake replied. "A freshman as well."

Randy nodded his head. "Bruce." He said before disappearing inside.

_Bruce?_ Jake shook his head and headed back towards the gas station's 'ally', if that's what you could even call it. He sighed, realizing he hadn't found the leprechaun family. _I wonder where they went._

Jake spun around as he heard a whizzing noise coming towards him. Eyes widening, he tumbled to the side, a red beam blowing up on the ground where he had been moments before. _What the heck was that?_ The teen hero stood up, scanning the area from where the beam had emitted.

There was nothing there.

_Did I imagine it?_ Jake asked himself as he walked to where the ray had exploded.

"No, I couldn't have if there's a smoking burn on the ground here." The teen murmured to himself, reaching out and touch the hot spot. His head snapped up as he heard screams coming from the front of the gas station. Jake jumped up and sprinted to the opposite side, eyes narrowing as he took in the sight in front of him. There was some sort of creature hovering above the school bus Randy had gestured to, covered from head to toe in… _the Dark Mist_. Jake's eyes widened as he identified the smoke around the figure. He raised his hands and prepared to dragon up when he realized that there were other people here and he would be out in the open if they stayed next to the gas station. Maybe he could lure it to the small field… The sun was setting and it would make it harder for people to see over there. As he decided on this and was about to put his plan into action, Randy appeared from the building, gasping at what he saw.

"What's going on?" He asked Jake who was standing off to the side.

"That," Jake said, pointing to the smoky figure. "But we need to get everyone inside."

Randy nodded and dashed toward the bus. It looked like he was saying something to the teacher and his friend, what was it… Leonard? Jake rolled his eyes at himself and picked up a rock, dashing towards the figure.

"Hey Jerk!" The teen yelled, chucking the rock at the figures head. It landed, knocking the creature slightly to the side. The being hissed as he looked at Jake, it's lips curling up in a vicious grin. It launched itself at Jake, palms growing read as it took aim. Jake immediately took action, running towards the field he had decided on as cover. He glanced back, seeing Randy and his friend usher the last of the teenagers inside. Jake smirked with relief that the boy had listened to him, before diving into the tall grass and crouching, preparing to revert to his hero form.

"Dragon up!" the transformation flames over took his body, filling him with adrenaline and determination as red scales began covering him. Jake shot into the air as he finished transforming into a dragon, pivoting in the sky as he looked for the mist shrouded person. _Where did it go?_

"Ninja leap!" The sudden noise from behind Jake caught his attention and he spun, spotting the mist creature and another figure fighting across the field. The dragon hovered for a moment, stunned that someone else had begun fighting the creature. _I wonder if it's 88 or 89?_ Jake shook away his thoughts before launching himself toward the fight, a fireball beginning to form in his mouth before he blasted it away, aiming at the Dark Mist person. The red and orange ball soared through the air, exploding as it came into contact with its target who screeched from the 'pain' and fell to the ground. The other figure that was standing on the ground looked up in surprise at Jake, the red markings appearing to glow as they caught the sunlight. Jake tilted his head as he racked his mind for possible creatures the figure could be. His thoughts were cut short as pain seared his back, the smoky figure emerging from behind him with a wide grin as it flicked away the blood on it's hand. Jake twisted, recovering from the blow quickly. He launched himself at the creature, claws outstretched for a hit. The figure was suddenly shoved from his vision as the black and red being intervened, kicking the creature away.

"Listen dragon thingy," the black and red covered individual turned around, pointing a finger at Jake. "I don't know who or what you are but this is the ninja's fight, _my _fight." He called up. "Scurry back to whatever cave you came fro-" the sentenced was cut short as the ninja took a blow to the side, propelling him far into the tall grass.

Jake chuckled. "Yeah, I can tell you've got it all under control," He shouted towards the area the fighter had disappeared. The dragon teen turned to the figure with what looked to have white hair under the mist. "I got this." Jake called, launching himself back towards the creature.

"Hey misty! Catch!" Jake shot a fireball at the enemy who quickly dodged out of the way, hands glowing red again.

"No," it said, it's voice scratchy and blood curdling. "_You_ catch." A red beam appeared from it's red hands, hurdling towards Jake. The dragon's eyes widened as he realized that it looked like the same beam he had encountered behind the gas station. He was pulled from his trance as the ray hit his chest, throwing him backwards into the grass, clutching his chest.

"Oh yeah," he heard the voice of the ninja. "You've definitely got a handle on things." Jake glared up at the warrior before picking himself up.

"I'd love to stay and play some more kidsss," the figure said as it hovered over the two heroes on the ground. "But I've got a report to make. Have fun on your trip ninja." He smirked as the ninja's eyes widened slightly. "And good luck with your leprechaun ssssearch." His blood red eyes turned to Jake, sending chills through his body. Wait, how did it know he was on a leprechaun search? Before the dragon could blurt out his question, the figure disappeared in a flurry of green and black smoke, menacing laughing echoing throughout the air.

Jake began to turn towards the ninja but realized the masked person had disappeared, leaving him alone in the now dark field. Who was that figure supposed to be? Who was the ninja person? And most importantly, how did the creature know he was on a leprechaun search…?

The teen hero soared into the sky, heading towards his grandpa's shop. He searched his brain for any possible solutions to his question before coming to one that made the most sense to him.

It had been a set up.

Of course. If it had been a set up that would explain how the creature knew he was on a leprechaun hunt, how he had known Jake was behind the gas station, how it had smiled at Jake when they first locked eyes. The next question was why? Why had it been a set up?

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**Have I thoroughly confused you or opened a door for your mind? X) UhehehahahHAHAHAHA! Oh uh... yeah. **

**Thank you all again! and as always, please review! I hope I get chapter 7 to you tomorrow! :)**

**Updated 08/25/13**


	7. Chapter 7 - Smoky Dreams

**Hiya! Told you I'd get chapter 7 out! Woo!**

**I don't know how good it is to all of you, it was kind of squished in at the last part of today. I know I probably could have written this chapter better but not much happens anyways so yeah. Hope you guys enjoy it! I'll try to get chapter 8 out as soon as possible but again, I start school tomorrow so who knows, hopefully this weekend though. :) **

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Chapter 7 – Smoky Dreams

Randy sprinted back towards the gas station, taking the ninja mask off behind the building. He stepped back to the front and found Howard, quietly slipping in beside him as the students entered the school bus. His side ached where the smoky creature had it him, causing the teen to grip his side.

"How'd it go?" Howard asked in a whisper, watching as Bucky tripped on one of the bus steps.

"What? The monster? Fine…" Randy answered hesitantly.

"You don't sound like it went fine."

"Well, I mean… it… it's gone?" Randy finished with more of a question than a statement.

"Are you sure?" Howard turned his attention to his purple haired friend, raising an eyebrow. Randy shrugged quietly as they neared Mrs. Driscoll, looking anywhere but at his friend. He nodded to his science teacher as they stepped onto the bus and headed to the back, sitting down where they had when they'd first left the school.

"I… don't know Howard. It's weird though, it looked like the monster was covered in that same black stank I fought yesterday." Randy explained, looking out the window as the bus rumbled to a start and drove away from the run down gas station. _That's strange. I don't see Jake anywhere. I wonder if he left after I began fighting?_

"Well maybe we should go online and look for this weird black stank, see if anyone knows about it." Howard suggested.

Randy snorted. "Yeah, because the internet knows a lot about something like this. I don't know Howard; maybe we should just wait and play it by ear. The monster did say he had to… report something. I don't think that's the last time I'll see it."

Howard sighed, opening a bag of gummy worms. "Sure, fine, whatever. Hey who was that kid you were talking to?" he asked, changing the subject.

"Oh, that was Jake. He's our age too. He said he was getting some kind of special food for his grandpa. His hands were empty though and he said that they were all out. Sounded fishy to me but it wasn't my business so I didn't push it. He was nice, I wonder where he went?"

"I wouldn't be surprised if he had jet as soon as he saw that monster. Us being from Norrisville, we're used to it." The ginger boy said, stuffing several worms into his mouth. Randy murmured his agreement, turning his attention back to the scenery scrolling by outside of the window. _But he had seemed so calm when he told me we needed to get everyone inside. And then he picked up that rock and ran towards it…_ The teen hero thought to himself as his eyes began to drift close.

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The bus slowed to a halt as the 9th grade class pulled into the parking lot of their hotel. The building stood tall, small tree's growing in pots beside doors. Through the glass windows and doors a fairly nice lobby was viewable, a tan carpet with red swirly patterns running throughout it. The students grabbed their luggage and stepped off of the bus, following Mrs. Driscoll and her skeleton husband into the foyer. Each student stood in a small group of friends, whispering in excitement to each other as they waited for their teacher to announce their floor and rooms. Howard and Randy stood off to the side, grinning as they gazed around them.

"This is going to be awesome! There's supposed to be a pool, a fire pit, and an arcade!" Howard told his friend, voice lined with enthusiasm.

"An arcade?" Randy asked in disbelief. "That's going to be _the cheese_!"

The students quieted down as Mrs. Driscoll turned, holding a stack of room keys and a piece of paper.

"Ok students, we will do this in an orderly fashion where I will announce you and your partner's room when we get to our designated floor. Everyone follow me to the elevators, our rooms are on floor 9. Make sure you push the right button." Mrs. Driscoll narrowed her eyes at a few of the trouble makers in the class before guiding the pupils to the elevators. Randy pushed the up button and waited quietly with Howard as the elevator came down. His head was beginning to throb…

As the two boys loaded onto the elevator, Bucky, Theresa Fowler, Debbie Kang, and Julian joined them, nodding to their fellow classmates before returning to talking amongst themselves.

"You ok?" Howard asked Randy as the elevator jolted upwards, beginning their climb to floor 9. "You look a little pale."

"I'm fine. I just have a killer headache." Randy replied, leaning against the elevator's wall. "I'll probably pass out once we get our room."

"Really? Well I can't promise it's going to quiet." Howard said with a small chuckle, turning back to the doors as the elevator stopped. The six students stepped out of movable room, joining many of their classmates in the hallway. The gray haired teacher stood at the front of the group, beginning to announce rooms as Randy turned his attention to the woman.

"Debbie and Theresa get room 914," the two girls pushed their way to the front of the group and grabbed their room keys, heading for the hallway that pointed to their room. "Stevens and John get room 915, Julian and Bucky, room 916, Randy and Howard, room 917," The two freshmen perked up at the sound of their names, walking to their teacher and taking their room keys, holding back the bubbling excitement in their stomachs. They nodded their thanks and hurried down the hallway towards their room, smiles growing as they neared closer and closer. Randy and Howard stopped outside of the brown door marked with a golden 917 before Randy slid his card into the door slot and pushed the entrance open. The boys slipped into the room, putting down their luggage before yelling in eagerness.

"We've got our own room! How bruce is this! We can do anything we want!" Howard cheered, flopping onto the snowy white bed.

"This is going to be such a bruce weekend!" Randy added, sitting down on his own bed and cracking out the snacks for the both of them.

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Two hours later, the two teen boys had breezed through several bags of McSquiddles, two bags of chips (they were now on their third), and had chugged 3 Icees each. Howard lay on his bed, lips blue from the Icees before letting a loud burp escape his mouth. Randy grunted in disgust at the burp, flipping to his side. He groaned, rubbing his face quietly. His head painfully throbbed and his arm stung. The teen felt nauseous as he moved, causing him to moan louder.

"You ok Cunningham?" Howard asked as he looked over, seeing the discomfort on his friend's face.

"I… I feel a little queasy," The other boy admitted. "And my head hurts again."

"Do you want me to ask Driscoll for some Ibuprofen or something?" the ginger offered.

"I, ugh," Randy grabbed his arm as more pain flared through it. With a start he remembered that the limb he was currently gripping held the bruise that had come from the black stank. "Howard," he began quietly. Howard flipped his feet off of the side of the bed as his name was called. "Howard my arm… It kinda…" Randy's vision began to blur, black creeping into the edges of his vision.

"Is that your bruised arm?" Howard asked, eyes broadening.

"I…Yeah… I don't…feel…" Randy tumbled off of the bed as darkness overtook his vision. He hit the ground with a quiet thud, eyes closing as he slipped into unconsciousness.

"Cunningham?" Howard quickly knelt down beside his friend, shaking him slightly. When no response came the overweight boy pulled up the teen's sleeve, gasping at the faintly glowing spot. "What is going_ on?_"

* * *

Randy awoke with a start on his hotel bed, raising a hand to his forehead. He felt like he had just been hit by a truck and his arm still stung a little. He looked over and saw that the window was open, also registering that their fan was on and the room had a slight smoky tint to it.

"H-Howard?" Randy's throat felt scratchy and his voice was hoarse.

"Hey, you're up," His friend paced to the bed, a glint of worry in his eyes. "You feeling ok?"

"A little sore… What happened?"

"You, well…" Randy could tell his friend was searching his mind for the right words. "You fell unconscious. And then, your bruise started glowing. I was about to pull you into the bathroom when you screamed and then it started pouring black stank. And I'm not exaggerating. It was literally pooling around you." Howard paused and Randy saw a slight shiver pass through him. "I… I didn't know what to do. And then…"

"What?" The purple haired teen asked as the pause felt like forever.

"It was… _you._ I mean, you were on the floor but all the smoke morphed into the ninja. I thought I was a real goner when it snarled at me. Then it pinned me down and took out a sword. I saw the blade coming for my neck when it stopped and suddenly vanished…" Howard closed his eyes as the memory played out in his mind.

"I'm… I'm so sorry." Randy apologized, looking down to the bottom of his bed.

"It's… fine. It's done now. I just pulled you onto the bed and turned on the TV. I also opened the window to air out the room." Howard gestured to the opening.

Randy sighed, adjusting is arm quietly. He wished he could do something more for his friend.

A faint laugh echoed around the room and Randy and Howard jerked their heads up, tensing. When nothing came, they finally returned their gaze to each other.

"We have to figure this out. What if more things like this keep happening?' Howard asked, unconsciously stuffing a McSquiddle into his mouth.

"We don't even know what this is. I wish I knew what to do but I don't."

"What about the Nomicon?"

Randy paused, thinking back to the black stank fight with Bucky. "It…It said 'The holder of the black mist can mislead one from others appearances'. I don't think that helps us right now."

"Could you ask it again?" Howard urged as another piece of candy was popped into his mouth.

"I think I'd get the same answer…" The boys sat in silence before Howard stood from the side of Randy's bed and headed toward the light switch. "We'll talk some more tomorrow. You need rest, plus we have school in the morning." His friend flipped the light and plunged the room into darkness, crawling into his own bed. Randy pulled the covers up, closing his eyes slowly. As they fully closed, an image flashed in the teen's head, causing him to snap them open again.

He had seen something big, with glowing red eyes. Not like the monster from the gas station but… he didn't know. Randy saw himself as the ninja, and there were two other figures next to him. It liked they were confronting the shadowy figure with red eyes but Randy couldn't tell what all was happening. He reclosed his eyes, pushing the image to the back of his brain. _The stank must be getting to my head._ Randy joked to himself with a small chuckle as he slipped into sleep.

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**Oh snap, my plot is beginning to develope! *evil grin***

**As always, please review! :D**

**Updated 08/26/13**


	8. Chapter 8 - Startling Appearances

**Yay! Chapter 8 came out earlier than I expected! :D **

**Disclaimer: Don't own non of these, shows would still be going, yada yada.**

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**Review Questions and Answers**

**Thank you guests' to reviewing! :3 And to you who asked why I started on a Tuesday, yeah, my district is weird. Part of it was that they were giving the 6th graders in my school a chance to get a feel for the environment without 7th and 8th graders trampling over them. Yes, I'm an 8th grader. :O X)**

**And you have an excellent guess to the other guest, we'll have to wait and see what happens to Jake! *Evil Grin***

_**little**__** nightingale2**_**: Thank you for loving my story! :D I really appreciate it! I made Danny the oldest because, well again, I don't know. Out of Danny and Jake I feel like Danny should be the oldest, for 1 because Danny was a Freshman while Jake was an 8th Grader and 2, I feel like Danny would seem older since he didn't have help while figuring out his powers often. Jake already had a ton of other creatures to learn from and yeah. Plus, I just like the way it feels to have Danny be a sophomore and Jake and Randy be Freshman. I didn't want Danny and Jake to be Seniors and have Randy be the lone little Freshman still struggling, I wanted them to have close ages so they could bond more! Hope that answers your question! :) 3**

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Chapter 8 – Startling Appearances

"Up and at 'em! It's morning!"

Danny jolted awake as the loud and booming voice of his dad, Jack, burst through his room. For half a second the ghost powered teen had thought it was a specter, but when he realized it was just his obnoxious father, the boy rolled back over, sighing to himself. It was Saturday, and that meant it would be several long hours on a road trip with his family, which would be ghost based once they reached their destination, New York.

"Danny boy come on! We don't want to let any more daylight burn! Think about all the exciting ghosts' we'll get to catch and dissect!" Jack's voice sounded through his door again and Danny shivered at the thought of being one of those ghosts'. He finally mustered enough strength to pull his body from his warm, comforting bed and pulled on his white t-shirt and jeans. The 15 year old sloppily smoothed down his messy hair and grabbed his luggage before heading out of his room, giving a longing glance once more back at the space before closing the door and marching downstairs.

* * *

Danny stood by Jazz outside of his house as they waited for Jack and their mom, Maddie to finish loading the Fenton Assault Vehicle. The boy and his sister talked quietly as their parents walked back and forth from the house to the RV, mostly packing ghostly weapons.

"I can't believe they're dragging us along for this trip. Couldn't they have gone by themselves and left us here?" Danny grumbled, lazily kicking at a rock on the ground.

"It's basically a five day trip. I don't think they have anyone to watch us on such short notice and they're already suspicious of your current habits," Jazz pointed out, rubbing her arms to chase away the chilly morning air. "Besides, I've always kind of wanted to see New York."

"But all they're going to do is hunt ghosts. Like always." The teenage boy muttered. "It would have been a little better if Tuck and Sam could have come."

Jazz just rolled her eyes and turned as Jack and Maddie approached them, crazy grins spread across their face.

"Ready kids? Of course you are, load up!" Jack laughed at them before opening the driver's door and hopping in. Maddie softened her smile and looked at Jazz and Danny, lowering her voice to them.

"I'll try to get your father to lighten up on ghosts so we can do other things." She murmured before rounding around to the passenger's side. Danny glanced at Jazz with a raised eyebrow, muttering "Yeah right." Before climbing into the RV, his sister following behind quietly. Once everyone was buckled and they were sure they had everything, the FAV rumbled to life and pulled away from their red bricked home, leaving it silent and empty for five days.

As their house disappeared from view, Danny slouched in his seat, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Where are we staying?" Jazz asked casually, watching the buildings flash by out the window.

"Well, your father and I found a hotel at the edges of Manhattan, close enough to the park where some witnesses saw the weird black mist," Maddie began explaining with an enthused voice. "It was so convenient on such short notice and the prices were lower than usual. What was the reason…? I think there was some kind of school thing going on that caused the prices to drop, at least that's what the lady I talked to said. I'm sure those kids won't bother us too much. We're use to ghosts huh?" the blue dressed woman said, shrugging her shoulders.

Danny sighed. "Great, more kids to be around. I don't even get a break from school."

"Why are you being such a grumpy pants?" Jazz muttered as she turned her attention to her brother. The sophomore looked at his sister, running a hand through his hair.

"Sorry. I'm just tired," Danny said. "I had a nasty nightmare last night, it almost felt real."

"What was it about?" Jazz asked, the irritation in her teal eyes replaced by worry.

"I don't know exactly, it was really blurry." The teen began, recollecting what he could from the dream. "There was this really big, dark shape with red eyes, like blood red. I was there as Danny Phantom," Danny lowered his voice even more at this point, loud enough for only Jazz to hear. "And there were two other figures next to me but they were really just blobs. One was black and the other was red. It looked like I was going to fight the dark shadow with red eyes. I think the blobs next to me were too, but I couldn't really tell." He finished, looking away from his sister and out of the window. After a moment of silence, Jazz finally spoke.

"What do you think it meant?"

Danny shuffled in his seat at his sister's question, hesitantly shrugging.

"I don't know. It was probably just a dream…" _But it hadn't felt like a dream, _Danny silently thought as he returned his gaze back to the scenery outside. _It had seemed so real._

* * *

About two and a half hours into the trip, the vehicle pulled into a gas station, the driver of the RV shifting furiously as he tried to unbuckle his seat belt as fast as he could. Once the safety belt had been removed, the orange clothed man jumped out of the car, dashing for the gas stations bathroom.

"I told that man he shouldn't have chugged two Big Gulp slushies before we left." Maddie mumbled as she got out of the car and began filling up the gas tank.

Danny and Jazz stepped outside as well, stretching and enjoying the semi-fresh air before they were shoved back into the vehicle for more, slow moving hours. As they did so, Danny checked his pockets for a green and white earpiece before groaning loud enough for Jazz to hear.

"I left my pair of Fenton Phones at home." He complained, double checking his pants.

Jazz rolled her eyes in amusement at her brother, shaking her head. "No Danny, I grabbed them for you remember? I wanted to make sure you didn't forget. They're in my bag." The brother and sister walked to the back of the RV and pulled open the doors, expecting to just see luggage. Instead, two 15 year olds tumbled out, grunting as they hit the ground. At the sound of this, Maddie walked around to the back where her children were standing, letting out a small gasp as she saw the two unexpected children.

"Sam, Tucker? What are you doing here?" The mother asked in surprise, a slight hint of anger in her voice. The techno geek and Goth smiled sheepishly up at the adult, embarrassed that they had been discovered.

"Um… Well, you see… we were just uh…" Tucker began.

"Um, walking to your house to say goodbye to Danny…." Sam added.

"When this, uh, ghost! You see it…"

"Pushed us inside!" Sam said, her and Tucker nodding their heads.

"We tried to yell at you guys but, um, the doors must have been sound proof…"

Maddie raised an eyebrow at the shaky story, her mother instinct telling her otherwise.

"Right… Well since this 'ghost'," the woman used air quotes around the word. "pushed you into our RV, I guess we should tell your parents you're coming with us. It's too late to turn around." Maddie said as she turned back to the gas pump, shaking her head quietly.

Danny reached out a hand for Sam to take, pulling her up off of the ground before doing the same for Tucker.

"How did these bags that aren't ours get inside?" Jazz said with a smirk, holding up the luggage marked 'Sam' and 'Tucker'. The two 15 year olds blushed and avoided the 17 year olds gaze. Jazz chuckled.

"Relax, I'm messing with you guys. I thought I heard a thump as we drove off." The girl said, putting the two bags on top of the other luggage.

"We had to come along! We couldn't leave Danny, especially after Thursday." Sam said, brushing off the dust on her skirt.

"Yeah man, we told you we'd make it somehow." Tucker added, adjusting his glasses.

Danny smiled, putting his hands on his friends' shoulders. "You guys are awesome."

Jack emerged from the gas station's main building, marching over to the RV with a bundle of food and drinks in his hands. As he deposited the food by the passenger's seat, he nodded to Sam and Tucker, thinking nothing of it before seeing the bag of doughnuts he had dropped on the ground. The man jogged back over and leaned down to pick it up. He stopped short however when he realized there was a black hue to the white bag.

"Hey Maddie, do doughnut bags usually have a black smoke covering them?" Jack questioned, half way knowing the answer.

"What do you mean Jack? Of course not." Maddie chuckled, beginning to walk towards her husband.

_Black smoke?_ Danny thought in confusion as he watched his parents. _Why would there be-_

Jack jumped back suddenly, letting out a gasp of surprise as a dark figure materialized in front of him, grinning wickedly. His dark blue eyes widened in surprise as the being pulled out a sword and he stumbled back, grabbing his wife's wrists.

"Maddie, the ghost weapons!" he yelled, pushing through the kids to get to the fighting equipment.

Danny staggered back, head jerking up in surprise. "But my ghost sense didn't go off." He whispered to his friends and sister, confused. "It looks a lot like a ghost!"

"I don't know what it is dude," Tucker said, voice beginning to go high pitched. "But ghost or not, it's looking at you!" he squeaked. Danny turned to the figure, his heart beginning to speed up as he realized Tucker was right. Through the black smoke there was a hole just big enough for the two eyes to be seen, which were a startling crimson red. It raised it's black and slightly purple smoked sword before lunging towards Danny with a widening grin. The teen hero stumbled farther back at the sudden move, almost becoming frozen with fear before whipping into action. He twisted on his feet and ran toward the back of the building, eyes flashing toxic neon green as he prepared his ghostly alter-ego.

"Goin' ghost!" The hero yelled as he released the pure energy inside of him, allowing the ice colored rings to appear around his waist. As the circles journeyed over him, his adrenaline increased, filling him with power. Danny Phantom shot out from behind the building as he finished transforming, searching the station with his glowing eyes. _Where did it go?_

Danny's thoughts were suddenly answered as he heard a whirring noise from behind him. Thinking quickly, he shifted to the right, two black rings whizzing past his head and landing in the wall in front of him. The ghost boy spun around, coming face to face with the black and red marked creature that was radiating black and purple smoke. Danny narrowed his eyes at the figure, clenching his fists.

"What do you want with me?" The ghost teen growled, hands beginning to glow green.

The figure smirked with narrowed eyes, hatred burning inside of them. The creature instead pulled out his sword again, hissing at Danny. The hero fired his ecto ray at the figure who jumped out of the way with another smirk. It shifted it's feet and flung a red scarf at the ghost, wrapping him up and pulling him to the ground with a sickening thud, then ran towards Danny with the blade above it's head, aiming for the boy's neck.

"Jack, look! It's that horrid ghost boy, and probably one of his friends." Maddie shouted, pulling out an Ecto Blaster.

"You're right! Let's get him and see if he knows anything about that mist in New York, then we can dissect him!" Jack enthusiastically yelled back, pulling out his own blaster.

A green ray erupted in the path of the figure, causing it to suddenly halt from it's attack. Startled, Danny looked over to see his parents aiming weapons at him.

"Great, one more thing I need trying to kill me." Danny groaned. He suddenly shot into the air, pulling the figure along as he unwound the scarf from around his torso. The charging of one of the Ecto Blaster's alerted Danny to another attack from his parent's, causing him to dodge to the left. The creature used this as an advantage and threw it's sword at the ghost boy, jumping onto the gas station's roof as it did so. Danny yelped as the blade sliced through the skin on his back, shocked that the sword had cut him. He twisted back to the figure as Jack and Maddie switched weapons, hoping it would take them longer than just a moment.

"What do you want?" Danny asked again, raising his voice in rage.

The creature held up his hands, making the sword appear out of the black mist that surrounded it's palms. "It's not what I want," the voice sounded scratchy and cold as the being swung the sword lazily around. "I've already basically got that. But I promise, you'll find out soon enough." It turned it's head as it heard Maddie and Jack shout at it and the ghost boy. "I'd love to stay but it looks like you'll have your hands pretty full Danny _Fenton_." It laughed as the smoke around it began to swirl, leaving Danny with a shocked brain.

A sharp burning sensation to his shoulder alerted Danny that his parents were still hunting him. Dodging a few more blasts, the teen hero dove and sunk into the ground, quickly moving to the gas station's bathroom. He closed the door before transforming, the stinging in his back becoming sharper. Danny took a few wet paper towels and quietly wiped his back before tossing them into the trash can, flushing to make it more believable, and walking away from the restroom. He returned to his startled sister and friends while his parents anxiously looked around them for the ghost boy.

"Looks like he got away." Maddie concluded, putting the ghost blaster back into the FAV. "We'll get him one day Jack. Come on kids, let's go."

The teens piled back into the RV, talking quietly as the vehicle returned to the road.

"What was that?"

"I don't know…"

"Where did it come from?"

"I don't know."

"What was it here for?"

"I. Don't. Know." Danny snapped at the other teens, rubbing his shoulder before sighing. "Look guys, I don't know anything about this thing. But it talked as if it knew a lot about me." The teen boy whispered, rubbing his neck.

"What do you mean?" Sam asked, putting her hand on Danny's shoulder.

"It called me a Fenton while I was Phantom." Danny explained, fear filling his voice. "And it said I'll find out everything soon enough."

* * *

**Yay! So what'd you think? *Raises eyebrows***

**Please, as always, Review! :3**

**Updated 08/28/13**


	9. Chapter 9 - Dark Introductions

**Chapter 9 peoples! _Chapter 9_. (And yet it still feels so early in the story. GAH)**

**Hopefully you guys will like this chapter, I do. (But I kinda like all my chapters so it doesn't really count). Well, I like it more than the others, maybe chapter 6 aside. Oh yes, hopefully you guys will get some insights on some things in here. (Before of course, I leave you with more questions. X3)**

**I think I'll get chapter 10 out tomorrow, when Randy, Danny, and Jake meet each other! WOO**

* * *

**Review Questions and Answers**

_**Gliss Phantom:**_**Yup, this is my first story ^.^**

_**Nerdgirl3:**_** Thank you for fangirling! Do it whenever you want to! And thank you for liking my story so much! :D**

**And of course, thanks to everyone who reviewed!**

* * *

Chapter 9 – Dark Introductions

Sunlight poured into Jake's room, reaching his eyes and delicately beginning to wake him. As he grew conscious, the teenage boy rolled over in his bed towards his alarm clock to check the time, drawing his eyes open before snapping them closed from the light. 10:00 a.m.

Jake took a few more moments to encourage himself before throwing the covers off him and placing his feet on the ground. Stretching, the green and black haired boy reached over and grabbed his phone before heading into the bathroom.

* * *

Jake headed downstairs in his regular clothes, texting Trixie and Spud to meet him at his Grandpa's shop. He grabbed a box of cereal from one of the kitchen cabinets and began pouring himself a bowl with milk before sitting down at the table and bringing the spoon to his mouth.

"Morning Jake," Jake's little sister Haley entered the kitchen, grabbing some eggs and a piece of bread from the fridge, her pigtails swaying back and forth. "You know, you should have a more nutritious breakfast like me, breakfast is the most important meal of the day." She commented, throwing the bread in the toaster and taking out a pan. Jake rolled his eyes at his snobbish sister, taking another bite of cereal.

"Yeah, well not everyone can be you Haley." He snorted.

"What a shame." Haley retorted back, an annoying smile coming to her face. Jake finished his bowl of cereal quickly, not wanting to hear any more stupid comments from his sister. He slurped down the milk and swiftly placed the bowl in the sink, dashing for the door.

"Tell Mom and Dad I went to Gramps' shop if they ask." The teen boy called before closing the door behind him and beginning the walk towards the electronics shop. Man, his sister could be irritating. At least he didn't have to stay in with her all day. Which, now that he was on the topic of irritating things, brought him back to the night before. The fight with the smoked figure, and less importantly that 'ninja' character. He had concluded to himself that it had been a set up, but the same questioned still lingered. Well, two questions now. Why had he been set up, and by whom?

As he thought about the previous day's events, he hadn't noticed that his feet unconsciously led him to the park that had been infested on Thursday. Jake looked up, surprised that he had landed himself there. He shrugged and began moving through the park along the longer route to the shop, keeping an eye out for anything he might have missed two days ago. As far as Jake could tell, all seemed normal. Several people were sitting on benches and minding their own business, he passed a few people who were walking and several bikers. There were a couple of animals out, though not as many as there usually would be, and he even saw a little pixie dash from a flower to a tree, but other than that, everything seemed normal. The teen followed the path to the other side of the park, jogging out of the area as he realized that his friends were probably already at the shop. Jake was so fixed on getting to the shop and finding the other creatures with the mark of the Dark Mist, that he passed right by one of the clues he had been looking for on his walk. Two blood red eyes peered out at him from atop a tree, narrowed with interest, and if someone was to look hard enough, a hint of disgust.

* * *

"Yo Fu," Jake called as he walked through the doors. Trixie and Spud sat on a small couch in the corner talking to each other before jumping up and walking to Jake's side. His grandpa sat at the counter, reading a copy of _Magical Weekly._

"Fu Dog is in the back young dragon," The gray haired man said without looking up from the magazine. "I believe he is finishing the Tracker Potion."

Jake murmured his thanks to his grandpa before leading his friends into the back room, moving the curtain aside before pacing into the space. The wrinkly gray dog sat at a desk with several jars, measuring and pinching in various objects into what would be the potion.

"Hey kid, just adding a few more things," The dog said as he opened a jar labeled _Hydra Scale_. "I'll be done in a sec."

"You ok?" Jake asked as he turned to Spud. He had been so busy yesterday that he hadn't been able to see if his friend was recovering from the mist in person. Spud looked up from a black and red flower he had snatched from one of the tables with a smile, placing the plant back.

"Yeah, I'm fine. My mind is a little blurry but other than that I'm- Oh! Gum" His friend pulled off a piece of gum from under the table and popped it into his mouth, earning a groan of disgust from Trixie and Jake.

"Yeah Jakey, only that's normal for Spud." Trixie said, flinching away when Spud opened his mouth for them to see.

"Alright kiddos, it's done," Fu replied, curling his lip as he spotted the rubbery blue object in Spud's mouth. Fu handed Jake an ice blue colored vial and an eye dropper, stepping back towards the desk as he instructed the teen what to do. "Just take a drop of the liquid and squeeze it out onto the ground. When it hits the floor a map should appear of the infected creatures. Sort of like _Google Maps_ but in 3D. It lasts for 30 seconds before you have to use another drop." The canine explained, motioning for Jake to try it.

Jake took off the cork and slipped the eye dropper inside, squeezing up some of the frost colored liquid. He put his hand out in front of him and pinched the dropper, allowing a single droplet to fall away. As the drop collided with the floor, the room grew darker and a bright purplish-blue smoke appeared in front of the four beings, swirling in the air before focusing into a simple map of the east half of the United States. Three black marks appeared on the map, flashing every few seconds. Fu dog pointed to the raven marks.

"Those are the creatures that are infected," he began explaining. "There's you," Fu gestured to the unmoving dot tucked inside a box that was shaped like the shop. "Those two are picking up on the locations of the others right now. Looks like one is here in New York," The dog raised his eyebrow in confusion (even though he didn't have one). "Strange, I thought we had gotten the mist before it got to anyone else. I'm not sure where the other one is, looks like it's around New Jersey or something."

"So, what now, go after them both? What if they're humans?" Jake hoped so much that they weren't, that they were magical, but a part of him felt differently. "Oh, yeah. Hi my name's Jake. You've been infected with a mist that was created by the undead, giving you that creepy bruise. And by the way, I'm a dragon." The teen snorted.

"Hey, I'm not the one who did this," Fu countered. "Just find them first. If they're human then we'll figure out what to do," The dog led the three teens out of the back and to the front, getting down on all fours in case someone came in. "Keep us updated, this isn't an everyday thing."

"And remember Jake," his grandfather came out from behind the desk. "Anyone can mistake a Koi in a pond of goldfish."

Jake nodded, though he had no clue what his Gramps was getting at. "Sure Gramps. Let's go guys."

* * *

The trio walked down the sidewalk, talking in low voices so passersby's wouldn't hear.

"What are we actually gonna do when we find these people or creatures?" Spud asked, scratching his ear.

"I'm not sure right now," Jake admitted as he absently kicked a rock. "I think it'll depend on the kind of individual it is. I guess it would be easier to approach a fairy than a troll."

Trixie nodded. "That _is _a good point. You're getting better at this Jake." Her voice was filled with amusement. Jake shook his head.

"Whatever Trix. Are we still going the right way?" The three ducked into an alley way as Jake pulled out the vial again. He let a drop fall and watched as the map materialized from the smoke. "Ok, so we're here…" Jake pointed to his mark, currently between two boxes which were identified as buildings. "And the next closest mark… Aww man it moved." The teen hero complained, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Well yeah Jake, it's not like people exactly stay still the whole time." Trixie pointed out as she rolled her eyes. Boys could be so dim sometimes.

Jake huffed. "So, it looks like we'll have to turn around."

Trixie and Spud looked around as their vision began to get unfocused. "Uh, Jake?" Spud tried to interrupt.

"And then take this street down to the left…"

"Jakey?"

"Maybe we can cut them off if we duck down this alley?"

"Jake!" Trixie and Spud yelled simultaneously. Jake twisted his head from the map which flickered out of appearance as the 30 seconds passed.

"Trixie? Spud?" Jake called out. The alley had grown fairly dark and was loaded with black smoke.

"Jake, where'd you go?" Spud asked, coughing at the end.

"I'm right here, I'll move." Jake attempted to turn his body but found himself frozen in place. He urged his legs to move, but they wouldn't budge. The teen's heart sped up, wondering what he could do.

"Jake!" Trixie and Spuds face suddenly came into view as the teen girl called out, eyes wide. "Look out!"

The 14 year old boy jerked his head around to gaze behind him. The air suddenly felt a lot heavier as Jake tried to breath, struggling to take a step back. A dark shadow loomed in front of him, sickening flame red eyes peering down at him with a faint smile. The figure lunged forward, the black smoke wafting around it and Jake. The boy yelped, dizzily trying to stay awake as his body grew tremendously cold, blackness crowding his conscious. As the darkness overtook his vision, a faint yell sounded somewhere in the back of his mind.

"Jake!"

* * *

A raven and green haired boy groggily blinked open his eyes, glancing around him before jerking his head up as memories came flooding back. He tried to move but found himself strapped down, facing darkness. Well, it was dark all around him except for the dim light that lit up where he was currently held. Jake growled to himself, struggling against the metal cuffs that held him.

"What's going on? Show yourself!" Jake yelled, becoming quiet as he waited for an answer. His question was met with hushed laughter, followed by one then two red orbs appearing in the darkness before him.

"Ah. The American Dragon," The voice was deep, dark, and certainly belonged to someone Jake wouldn't dream of being friends with. It seemed like it was taunting him, a smile appearing like the one from the alley. The teen shivered, shutting his eyes as he recalled the terror that had filled him.

"How nice of you to join us. I wouldn't think that a little mist and teleportation would leave a hero like yourself out for so long," The eyes flashed with pleasure before returning to a hated glare, the smile disappearing from view. Jake wasn't sure whether he hated or preferred the smile, both seemed to fill him with horror. "But all chatting aside, I've finally got you. And soon I will have all three of you, watching in shock as everything and everyone is destroyed, before being destroyed yourself," The eyes turned, seeming to gaze off at something Jake couldn't see. "All those years, locked away in that horrible forest, no one to talk to but myself…" the eyes snapped back to Jake, narrowed in disgust. "All because of what you do." Jake could tell that the 'you' the shadow was talking about didn't just apply to him, but whom else exactly?

The shadow seemed to straighten, regaining the pose it had taken before. "But this would be too easy, to simply kill you off or imprison you now. Oh no, I'll give you a 'sporting chance'." Four cruel, silver looking claws appeared, creating air quotes that Jake could see. "A chance to meet each other, play with each other's minds, before I finish you off." The taunt returned to the male voice, sparking anger in the teen. "I can't wait to see the pitiful irony you will all run into, I do love my entertainment. I should after being alone." The voice dripped with hate. "But now is not the time for back stories, I'll tell them when I have all of you in my claws." The red orbs turned, disappearing as the shadow spun around, beginning to walk away before stopping. "Oh my, I almost forgot."

A snap echoed before agony slammed into Jake's leg, creating an ear piercing shriek. The boy tried to look down but the pain was so much that his head jerked and slammed back against the table he was currently held on, eyes clenching close. The smell of burning skin met his nose, causing him to gag before inhaling and screaming again. Smoke wafted into the corner, beginning to take a tall, serpent like form. The pain began ebbing, leaving Jake weak kneed and nauseous. The red eyes appeared again, the grin faded in the darkness. "Thank you for helping me. D, R, help our friend here get back to familiar streets."

Two pairs of crimson eyes appeared, a faint green and purple hue surrounding them. Jake's eyes drooped as he took in the sight, suddenly extremely exhausted. The freezing temperature took his body again before he let the shadows envelope his mind, leaving him once again unconscious.

* * *

**Yup. So How'd it go? :D**

**As always, please review!**

**Updated 09/01/13**


	10. Chapter 10 - Puzzles of Three

**(Authors Notes)**

**(Disclaimer: Don't be ownin' none of da shows up in here. :P)**

**Holy Fudge Buckets**

**I am _extremely _sorry for how friggin' late this is. It's basically been two weeks since I said I would put this chapter out. UGHHH. **

**Well, these past weeks have been a little bit busy, what with school and everything starting up. Plus, I had some Multiple Animator Project parts for YoubyTuby I had to do which also put me behind. So sorry. XP**

**I _hope _(_hope_) I can do a bit of writing for Chapter 11 tomorrow, but I can't make any promises. So keep hoping, but don't get to hopeful X)**

**CHALLENGE!: I also have a little challenge for all yous! ;) I placed 3 hidden messages from the shows in this chapter (plus one in chapter 7). If anyone can figure at least one out, I'll add in a cameo appearance for a character of your choice, OC's included (So that gives up to 4 people a chance for their character to appear!). Good Luck! I'll post answers in chapter 12 most likely if no one else can figure them out! :D**

* * *

**Review Questions and Answers**

_**Some Weird**__** Chick:**_** The Dark Mist is just a legend I made up (As far as I know). :)**

**Thanks to _everyone _who reviewed! :D**

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Chapter 10 – Puzzles of three

"Come on Cunningham, we're gonna be late!" Howard's voice sounded from outside of the bathroom door as his friend anxiously called him. Randy sat down on the tile floor, the room slightly spinning. He had woken up with a head splitting headache and a nauseous stomach-effects he assumed were from the bruise. The teen slowly got to his feet and opened the door to see Howard sitting on the bed, eating a breakfast sandwich arranged with bacon, cheese, and an egg. He looked up and gulped down the chunk of food in his mouth.

"Finally! I don't want to be stuck in here because we're late, let's go!" The ginger shoved Randy's backpack into his hands and pushed him out the door as they headed for science class. They quickly paced down the hall way to the elevator, Howard clicking the down button several times.

"Come on!"

"Howard, it's not that bad…" Randy murmured, rubbing his throbbing head.

"No Cunningham, I am not missing our first day of New York lunch because of you!" Howard snapped, pulling Randy into the elevator as the doors open.

"And there it is. I thought you had lost your mind there for a moment." The purple haired teen chuckled as they rode down. Randy was nearly dragged down the hall as the lift stopped on the lobby floor and the duo made their way towards the set up science classroom, dashing inside right as Mrs. Driscoll began taking roll call.

* * *

Randy and Howard walked around the fire pit outside as they were let out for lunch. There were a few restaurants across from the pit, so the two were deciding where to go.

"Come on Howard, Chinese! I want to try the China Town based egg rolls that go around." Randy argued, pointing towards a restaurant labeled _Nacirema Dragon_

"No Cunningham, we have to try the pizza! It's New York!" Howard snapped back, tugging on Randy's jacket as he began pulling them towards a pizzeria called _Outta Dimension Pizza_

"Ugh. Fine, let's ask Bucky for a number between one and ten," Randy muttered as he spotted the band geek walking by. "Hey Bucky!"

Bucky looked over as he heard his name being called and changed direction, heading toward the two friends. "Hi Randy, Howard."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Choose a number between 1 and 10 so that we can guess and get some lunch!" Howard said bluntly, crossing his arms over his chest. Randy rolled his eyes.

Bucky hesitated, taken aback by Howard's tone before choosing a number. "Um… Ok, I got it."

"7." Randy guessed, smirking at Howard.

"3." Howard replied, glaring at his friend.

Bucky pointed to Randy with a small smile. "The number was 8." And with that, the geek walked off, leaving the shorter teen to scowl up at his best friend

"That was wonk…" Howard murmured

"Yes! To the Chinese!" Randy grabbed Howard by the collar of his shirt and headed off across the plaza. The black building gave off a warm, comfortable feeling as the two walked up to it, the red letters of the restaurant name gleaming in the sun. A small poster of half off sushi hung on the window, and a dragon door knob helped to enforce the Chinese feeling.

"See? Half off sushi! What's better than getting a bunch of food for half the price?" Randy asked as he opened the door. Howard grunted as the smell of fish and oil hit his nose.

"Alright, fine, but I am not going to enjoy this as much as pizza…"

Randy smirked and raised an eyebrow.

"Fine! I'll totally enjoy this just as much, it's New York! Now let's get some overly fried fish!" The ginger exclaimed in excitement.

* * *

A middle aged woman's scream ripped across a parking lot as she jumped out of the way of a huge, white with green highlighted RV. The vehicle ripped across and into a parking space, rumbling to a stop before a large man in an orange jumpsuit hopped out.

"Alright guys! We're here." Jack's voice boomed as he opened the back doors for the luggage.

"You know," Jazz stumbled out of the FAV, gripping her stomach as she refrained from throwing up her lunch. "Arriving a little bit later wouldn't have hurt that much."

Jack laughed, peeking at the clock on the RV dashboard. "It's already 12:45 pm Jazzy-pants! I think it's late enough."

"I swear my dad would kill us if Jazz didn't insist that he obey at least a few traffic rules." Danny muttered as he pulled out his bag.

"At least you only have half a life that would be killed." Tucker snickered, grabbing Sam's luggage and tossing it to her before he grabbed his own.

"Very funny Tucker." Danny grunted. "Keep those jokes up and you'll be hanging out with Klemper more than I do." He said, flashing a green eyed glare at him.

Tucker blinked and stepped behind Jazz.

"Come on guys, at least we're here. Look at this hotel, New York Skyline, it looks cozy. Could use a little more black, but you know me." Sam said, pulling her purple bat backpack on. "After we get our room I say we take a look at some restaurants."

The teens nodded their heads and murmured their approval before following the adults into the hotel. As the couple checked in, the four looked around at the lobby. A few other teenagers moved about with backpacks which Danny assumed we're the kids from the school.

"Sucks to have school on the weekend," Tucker murmured, adjusting his glasses as he spotted a dark clothed boy with black hair and a purple top hat with a skull on the front. "You better get him Sam. He's stealing your Goth image."

Sam rolled her eyes and flipped Tucker's beret off.

"Ok kids, room 403," Maddie told them, handing her son and daughter each a room key. "Don't lose it." The family trekked to the elevators with their multiple bags of luggage, most of them holding ghost related equipment.

After reaching the room, unpacking, and twisting away from their parents at last, the four teenagers headed outside to the fire pit to see the restaurants around them.

"What about that? _Nacirema Dragon._ Some sort of Asian restaurant?" Sam wondered aloud.

Jazz shrugged. "Wanna check it out?"

Danny led the way to the black colored building and opened the door, glancing with interest at the dragon door knob.

"Nǐ hǎo," a waitress with black hair and brown eyes greeted, bowing. "Just four?"

Jazz nodded and they followed the woman to their table, a booth tucked into the back corner. As Danny slid into the table beside Sam, he glanced a purple haired teen on the other side, busily stuffing an egg roll into his mouth.

"New Yorkers." Danny murmured with amusement before picking up the menu.

* * *

"Jake," A faint murmur nagged the back of the black and green haired teens mind as he slept, eyes blinking open with blurry vision before being shut again. "Jake?" The boy groaned and tried to turn over but a pierce of pain from his leg halted him, allowing another moan to escape his mouth.

"…water…splash…wake." Jake strained his ears to pick up more of the conversation being held above him. After a few seconds, a pair of feet walked away.

"Hang…there… you'll…ok…" Jake moaned again, the throbbing in his leg bothering him more. He was about to try and sit up when a sudden burst of a cold, wet, form hit his face. In surprise, the teen boy jolted up, coughing and spluttering as he realized there was water in his nose. Once the coughing wore down, Jake put a hand to his leg.

"Ow…" he murmured.

"Jake! You're ok," Fu Dog said, the worry from his face fading a little. "I thought you were leaving us."

"What… ugh, happened?" Jake asked, rubbing the painfully pulsing bruise.

"Trixie and Spud said you appeared from the ground in the Dark Mist and then they brought you back here." Fu explained.

"Yeah Jake, you were like some kind of ghost or something! Well I mean not literally," Spud began rephrasing when he saw the color drain from his friends face. "I mean, it was like you went through the ground like a ghost could."

"What happened with you?" Trixie asked, sitting cross legged on the floor.

"Well… It's all kinda blurry now," Jake began, pulling at the memories in the back of his brain. "A dark shape… he was angry at me for some reason, because of what I do? Probably because I protect magical creatures but that's where he lost me…" the teen sat for a moment, trying to figure it out before continuing again. "Um… it had silver claws. That's all I could make out for details, well besides red eyes and sharp teeth. He said everything will be revealed soon. And then pain, a brief glance at some purple and green figures? Then I end up back here." Jake explained, rubbing his head.

Fu nodded and walked to the back door as a knock sounded. Jake glanced a yellow horn, probably a unicorn. After a couple of moments, the wrinkly gray dog returned to the teenagers.

"So, how you feeling? Good enough to fight?" Fu asked, trying to bring a smile to his face.

"Uh… I guess. My leg is the only thing that hurts." Jake replied, bringing himself up to a sitting position.

"Good. 'Cause I think that unicorn saw a couple of your Dark Mist 'friends'."

* * *

Orange and red streaks lined the sky as the sun began to set, leaving New York buildings reflecting the warm colors off of each other. A flash off black was the only disturbance in the sky, the dark colors fading to a neon green and dark purple before disappearing from the sky in the blink of an eye.

Randy and Howard were busying themselves in the arcade of the New York Skyline hotel, Randy watching with a smirk as Howard skillfully punched the graves of the arcade version of _Grave Puncher_.

"Come on Howard; just admit that I'm better than you at _Grave Punchers_ too." The purple haired teen laughed, leaning against the side of the black and gray game box.

"No way Cunningham. I _will _beat you at this game." Howard growled, pushing the punch button furiously.

Randy grunted with delight at his friend's actions. "Yeah, right, well when you do that, call me. I might be living it up in heaven by then. In fact-" A bright burst of light from outside cut off Randy's next witty remark. The teen hero jumped to his feet and stared outside. "Did you see that Howard?"

"What? Oh wait, don't tell me, a basket of gravy fries? Don't try to trick me now Randy, your high score is going down."

"No, I mean the," Randy sighed and waved his hand. "Forget it, I'll check myself. Call me if anything comes up."

The freshman left his friend and went to find the nearest bathroom. Walking into the room and checking for any stray teens, the hero pulled out the ninja mask and yanked it over his face, signaling for the black and red transformation to begin. After the ninja suit covered his body, Randy jumped into the air duct and dashed his way out to the side of the hotel. Once out, the ninja scowled at what he saw. There, standing in front of him was the black and green stanked being he had fought the day before.

"Sssurprise kiddy. Did you misssss me?" the blood chilling voice tauntingly asked, picking something out of his fingernail casually.

"You? What are you doing here?" Randy asked with bitterness lining his voice.

"What, I come around and it automatically meansss trouble?" The whitish colored haired being paused before a grin spread onto his face. "I jussst want to have a little fun."

"Well take your fun somewhere else. I don't think many people want you here."

"I don't like your attitude missster. I'm not doing anything wrong… yet."

Randy leaped, pulling out his sword and swiping at the figure, only to come down upon empty air. He looked around, a hint of confusion in his eyes before turning around.

"Now, now, that wasn't very nicccce was it?" the shape said, hands beginning to glow red. "I think someone needs to be taught a lesssson." A bright crimson ray shot at Randy as the figure thrust his hands out at the ninja. Thinking fast, Randy rolled to the side, quickly throwing his weight to the front for a kick. Yet again the figure parted into thin air and left the hero stumbling forward as he regained his balance.

"Come on boy, at least make this ssssomewhat interesting." He taunted, crossing his arms over his chest as he floated slightly above the ground. "We're _just _getting started."

* * *

Meanwhile, on the other side of the building, a white haired teen with toxic green eyes stared down a figure that appeared to be some sort of warrior, black and purple smoke swirling around it.

"Come on now. I'm not doing _that_ much damage." The warrior chuckled, leaning against the side of the hotel.

"It's enough by my standards," Danny hissed, clenching his fists. "I think you should leave before any more harm happens, mainly to you."

"Oh really?" The ninja stood up from the wall, raising an eyebrow beneath the mask. "Those are some pretty brave wordsss. You don't even know what I can do." The figure smirked as he saw the quick flash of uncertainty fly across Danny's face. "You however. Well, I know _a lot_ about you."

Danny could feel his fingernails beginning to dig into his skin as he closed his fists tighter. "And how do you know?"

"I have waysss. Friends I guess you would say. But hey, what do they matter right now. At the moment it's jussst between me and you."

At the flash of amusement in the figures eyes, Danny finally lunged at him, bringing his fist up for a punch. The smoky warrior beamed and sunk into the ground, leaving the ghost boy to collide with the wall and stumble back in the air in slight pain.

"Temper, temper. A few words shouldn't be something to get upssset about." The being hissed.

"No," Danny huffed, hands glowing green. He shot a ghost ray at the figure, landing squarely in the chest. It growled in pain, bringing a hand to the smoking spot before it was quickly turned into it's own mist. "That can be something you get angry about though."

"Very well. If it'sss a fight you want, then it's a fight you'll get." The figure shot at Danny, arm pulled back for a punch. Danny ducked and sunk into the ground with intangibility, coming up from the back. However, the figure spun around with a foot outstretched, kicking the ghost teen hard in the side. Danny gasped in pain, catching himself in midair before colliding with the wall again. The ninja pulled out a few rings and hurled them at the ghost, the blade's glowing purple and black. Allowing his hands to create a wall of energy, Danny deflected them with a ghost shield and sent them back at the being who skillfully caught one with a hand and ducked beneath the others. Legs pumping, the figure dashed towards the teen hero and raised the circular blade again. Thinking he was about to try and throw the ring once more, Danny dodged to the left. However, the ring morphed into the sword at the last second, allowing the tip of the blade to cut through the side of Danny's leg. He hissed in pain and charged an ice beam, shooting the blue ray at the ninja. The figure flipped backwards, dodging the actual ray but was caught off guard by the bright flash of white that emitted. It flew against the wall, snapping it's head up as Danny rushed at him with a fist aimed at the head. A quick glance over the ghost hero's shoulder and the warrior grinned, sinking back into the ground. Danny pulled up, stopping the flight path he had began to take. A harsh hit right in his back brought Danny to the ground in a daze, a small groan passing through his lips.

* * *

Randy and the white haired figure that was covered in green and black smoke threw hits back and forth, some missing and others sure to leave a bruise for the next day. A red beam exploded in front of the ninja hero, sending him skidding back before he twisted to prepare for the next attack, sprinting at the creature. Randy jumped and brought his sword up but instead swiped with his foot, sending a nice jolt to the side of the figures jaw. It spat angrily, wiping red stank from where Randy had kicked as if it were blood. With such speed, the white haired boy sprung at Randy and hit him squarely in the gut, sending the hero flying through the sky. Before he could find a safe way to catch himself, his back collided with something hard, letting pain flow through him. Randy and the object he had collided with fell to the ground with a hard thud, both him and the other permitting a small gasp to sound from them.

Randy shakily stood to his feet, grabbing his sword that had thankfully stayed fairly close. He turned warily, pointing the blade at the other being on the ground. "Forget it monster, no amount of pain you do to me will make me stop what I do." Randy bravely said. The figure looked up, seeming for some reason to be a lot less smoky, and clearer, it's bright green eyes showing through the snowy white hair. Randy thought he saw a small hint of puzzlement in the eyes, but it was gone too fast that he couldn't be sure.

"And no matter what you think you can do, I'll always be there to stop it." The white haired boy retorted, standing to his feet. Randy suddenly felt as though the voice was a lot less scratchy and younger sounding. It must just be the monster trying to fool him…

Randy raised his sword for a quick swipe down when a burst of fire exploded between the two, startling them before they each looked up. A bright red reptile with wings and slightly glowing yellow eyes gazed down at them, claws clenched in fists.

"You two are coming with me." The ruby colored dragon growled, narrowing his eyes.

"Oh yeah?" Randy basically spat the words out in anger. "And why would I go with you?"

"Because if you don't give me answers about you stupid old, silver-clawed master, I'll make you."

Randy let a laugh escape his mouth that dripped with bitterness and anger. As if any monster could make him go anywhere.

"I didn't think what I was saying was funny. In fact, I'd say it was the exact opposite." The dragon said, gliding to the ground and towering over Randy. The teen hero snorted and stood tall, glaring right at the creature.

"Look, nothing you say will make me go with you. Try asking white haired freak back here to join your play date of death, not me."

"Excuse me?" The boy with green eyes asked in a dangerously low voice. "I suggest you take those words of yours back, or my image compared to your own will be _far _from freaky." He hissed through gritted teeth.

"Yeah? I'd love to see you try Snowy." The ninja shot back, allowing the sun to glint off of the blade of his sword. He charged at the other boy, aiming to ram into his chest, but somehow he missed, going straight through to the other side instead.

"Huh...?" Randy murmured in confusion. A second later a blast of heat blew into his shoulder, sending him flying backwards. Randy landed with a grunt, eyes narrowed.

"I'm not here for your stupid little pretend fight," the dragon growled, tail flicking to the side. "And I'm not just gonna sit here and watch either." He flew at the white haired boy with an arm pulled back, claws spread for a quick slash. The boy jumped back, hands brightening to a green before he shot another hot beam which the dragon dodged with a roll to the right. As he twisted back to the boy, he launched a fireball from his mouth that soared into the emerald eyed teen's leg, knocking him to the ground.

"Right in the same spot." The teen murmured in pain, climbing back to his feet.

Randy leaped onto the unsuspecting dragon's back, swiping the sword down the side and removing a few scales. The dragon dipped under the new weight and pain before quickly jerking to the side and throwing the ninja off. He chucked a ninja ring as he fell, the dragon ducking under it and instead allowing it to fly into the ghost boy's side. The ring ripped the jumpsuit and pierced the boy's skin, green liquid beginning to pour out.

_Is that his... blood?_ Randy wondered as he landed on the ground, legs bent to absorb the impact. The dragon turned to look as well after seeing the ninja's surprised expression. A flicker of surprise and dawning flashed in the red creature's eyes and he let his arms drop to his side, staring at the black and white dressed teen. Emerald eyes looked up in bitterness and a hint of bewilderment before the boy mysteriously disappeared from sight. The dragon began turning towards Randy and the ninja hurriedly pulled out a smoke bomb before sneaking away, not only because he didn't feel like confronting the beast, but because it was almost 9:00 according to the text Howard had sent. He had to get back before Mrs. Driscoll started roll call.

* * *

Randy quietly slunk back to the hotel room, grasping his aching shoulder. He was in a pretty good amount of pain, bruises littering his skin from what he could see. He was sure a nice cut ran at the bottom of his backside, causing him to slouch a little. Howard's eyes broadened slightly as the purple haired teen entered the room.

"What _happened?_" The friend asked, moving the backpacks on the floor so Randy could sit.

"A fight," Randy said bluntly, exhaustion and anger in his voice. "With a lot of pain."

"With who?" Howard pulled out a first aid kit and handed it to the other boy.

"Some kind of dragon thing and, like, a super powered boy?" Randy began wrapping his arm that was dripping with blood. "I can say for sure though," He paused as the memory of the green wound and purple bruise that looked too familiar came back. "I'm not the only one who's had a nice run in with some black mist."

* * *

**;) Questions? Answers I gave you? **

**I so wanted to get this out yesterday for Friday the 13th but I almost got caught trying to stay up. Poo**

**Updated 09/14/13**


	11. Chapter 11 - Personality Change

**(Author's Notes)**

**Well...Hi there. Hehe, I'm alive!**

**(Disclaimer: I don't own many things in this. Ya know, just the plot and OC's :P)**

**So... two weeks just fly don't they? Hehe. Yeah, I really ran late on this one. I caught a case of writer's block there for a second so you can't be too mad... right? **

**I swear to goodness that there _will _be another chapter tomorrow. If-no there isn't even an if. There will be a chapter tomorrow because I was going to write 2 today. so there.**

**CHALLENGE: There are still 3 challenge winner spots open! Give it a try and find those messages! (Hint: check some numbers in the last chapter and chapter 6 ;))**

* * *

**Reviews Questions and Answers**

**_Nerdgirl13_:**** Thank you! Thank you, thank you, thank you! I love you so much, you make me smile each time you review! And yes, that was one of the hidden messages! High Five!**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed! :D**

* * *

Chapter 11 – Personality Change

Danny phased through the floor of the hotel bathroom and collapsed onto the tile. He gripped his side in an attempt to stop the bleeding and suppress the pain, sighing as exhaustion hit him. Two flashlights flickered on in the boy's perception, casting the bathroom into deeper shadows. Rustling from the other room met his ears before three pairs of eyes peered into the lavatory filled with worry. Danny's green eyes looked up at the three other teenagers, a small smirk covering his face.

"Hey." The ghost teen murmured, pushing himself into a sitting position against the sink counter.

"Danny!" Jazz whispered in concern. "We were all worried sick about you! Fortunately Mom and Dad were wrapped up in ghost stuff not to notice." The older sister puffed, pulling a strand of loose hair behind her ear.

"Are you alright?" Sam piped in, angling the flashlight more into the bathroom.

"I'm great. Just tired…" Danny murmured, trying to twist his hip out of sight. Sam handed the flashlight to Jazz, walking closer to the teen boy.

"Yeah right. Whenever you shuffle we know you're hurt, let me see." The Goth commanded, holding out her hand to help Danny up. He grumbled, taking her palm before climbing to his feet. He slowly removed his hand, exposing the green slash on his side. The three other teens gasped, Tucker quickly going to grab the first aid kit they had stashed under the bed.

"What happened?" Jazz asked frantically, laying the flashlight down on the ground and going to Danny's side.

Danny huffed in fatigue, amusement lining his eyes. "Well, you know a fight."

"No duh," Tucker said as he returned with some gauze. A flash of white light met his statement as Danny returned to human, grimacing as the pain increased. The green ectoplasm quickly turned to a majority of red blood.

"Well, there was the ninja thing I fought earlier at the gas station. So, you know, I went to check it out and we started fighting," Danny winced as Tucker tightened the bandage before sighing in relief. "Thanks. Uh yeah so we were doing that and then he slammed me into the ground and fell onto me. When he got up it looked like he was either in pain or faking it, but then this dragon thing randomly appeared and said that we had to go with him to talk about our master. I have no clue what he meant though," The boy added as he saw Jazz open her mouth. "And then all three of us were fighting and then the ninja cut me with one of his blade thingies. And then I disappeared. It did look like the dragon dropped his defense but I didn't want to chance anything." Danny finished, sitting back down on the ground.

Sam, Tucker, and Jazz were quiet for a moment before Sam spoke up. "I think we need to find these things and make them talk." She said, her violet eyes flashing in the white light. "Obviously you're a part of something, maybe big, maybe small, but there's no sure way to know until we get answers. Tomorrow we have to sneak away from your parents." She concluded, picking up the flashlight and flicking it off.

* * *

A loud clunk erupted from the hotel room, jolting the four teenagers up with pounding hearts. Jack and Maddie stood in a corner of the room, ghost inventions scattered about at their feet.

"I think we should check the park first, a lot of people said that was mainly where they saw the smoke." Maddie said to her husband, rubbing her head as she tried to persuade Jack.

"But Maddie there are so many supposed haunted places in New York! The Dakota Hotel, The Octagon. Oh! Maybe we could check the Belasco Theater!" Jack exclaimed, giving a shiver of excitement.

"Jack our main focus was the black mist that we saw on TV remember? We can check those places out later this week."

"Fine." The orange jumpsuit clothed man grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest.

Danny rolled out of bed with a sigh, quickly grabbing a clean white and red shirt from his suitcase as he spotted the brown and green stain on the current shirt he was wearing.

"Alright troops! Time to get started on this ghostly mystery!" Jack called, pulling a protesting Jazz out of the bed. "The sooner we get to the park, the sooner we can find this ghost and I can rip it apart molecule by molecule!"

"And the sooner we can leave." Tucker muttered, pulling his glasses onto his face with boredom.

"Oh chin up Tuck," Sam began as she pulled her hair up into half a ponytail. "Maybe you'll meet a nerd like yourself at the park." She chuckled.

"Haha," Tucker scoffed. "Maybe you'll get lucky and Danny will ask you out."

His comment was met with a pillow to the face.

* * *

Danny, Tucker, Jazz, and Sam stood by the Fenton Assault Vehicle in the park, each covering their face from passerby's in embarrassment. The two adults were busily setting up several ghost inventions all around the area, sometimes scaring away people who had been passing through or animals who were simply scavenging.

"Remind me again, how are we related to them?" Danny muttered to Jazz as Jack set off a Fenton Foamer, covering a blond haired woman head to waist in green goop.

"Your guess is as good as mine." The red headed girl replied with a sigh.

"Well, on the bright side this could give us an opportunity to get away," Sam said while she pocketed a few wrist rays and laser lipsticks. She handed each of them a thermos, glancing about to make sure no one was watching. "Let's just leave a note saying that we went to brunch or something."

The three other teens murmured their agreement before they set off for the park entrance with their eyes and ears open. They crossed the road into town while whispering among themselves.

"So were there any more clues the dragon gave about the master dude?" Tucker asked, pulling out his PDA and bringing up his ghost radar.

"I guess he said something about it being 'silver-clawed' but that's it. Not much of a lead." Danny replied, brushing back his raven hair.

Jazz nodded. "Ok, so we have a reasonable list of appearances. The ninja was black with red markings and blue or red eyes depending on when it decided to change them. The dragon was red with yellow eyes and black and green spike things. And then we have a master with silver claws."

"But does it really bring us closer to finding them?" Danny inquired.

"Maybe, maybe not. We just have to get what we can for now Danny. We'll find them eventually."

"Wait, I got something." Tucker stopped walking and held out his PDA for the others to see. "I tried to pull up ghosts with an ecto-signature similar to Danny's. Look," the techno geek pointed to the six and a half marks on the screen. "This has to be Danny, we're close enough and it's not moving around currently." Tuck said as he tapped one of the green blinking dots. "So these have to be the creatures we've been seeing right?"

"But why are there 5 other dots? There's only supposed to be three max," Sam wondered aloud. "And why does this one keep flickering out of range?" she gestured to the half dot that would appear every now and then.

"I don't actually know…" Tucker replied, pulling the PDA back to himself. "But at least we have something right?"

"So which one should we start with first? As far as we know they could just be other ghosts in the area. I don't really want to waltz into a ghost's lair and start flat blasting his a-" The teen hero was cut off as another boy collided with him, knocking them both to the ground. Danny pulled himself out from under the other boy who had black and green hair, brushing the rocks off of his palm.

"Watch it." Danny muttered as he picked himself up.

The other boy looked up with hazel eyes, glancing quickly over his shoulder. "Uh, yeah. Sorry. I'm kinda in a rush…." The short teen took off without another word, looking around him before disappearing behind a corner. Danny looked after the teen, suspicion rising in his mind.

"I'll be right back." The blue eyed boy said before dashing away in the direction of the black and green haired teen.

"Why do you think he's going after the boy?" Tucker asked. Sam and Jazz shrugged.

"Look out!" a voice called behind them. Rocks were heard scattering across the ground as the trio turned around. An African American girl was frantically shuffling her feet as she slid across the ground in an attempt to stop. Failing, she collided into Tucker who caught her quickly before stepping back. The girl looked up, panting.

"Thanks," she said, brushing the hair back between her two buns. "Did you see a teenager? About this tall, messy hair with a black and green do?" she asked hurriedly.

"That way," Jazz responded, pointing the way the boy and Danny had ran. "If I may ask, what's the big rush?"

The African American girl ignored her, grabbing the other boy's wrist. "Come on Spud! Jake, wait up!"

"But Trix I-" The boy never finished his sentence, as he was swiftly towed away by the girl.

"Now I have got to know what is going. Let's go." Jazz sped after the teenagers in front of her, Sam and Tucker following behind.

* * *

Danny tore after the boy in front of him, shoes kicking up gravel behind him as he tried to keep up. There was something weird about the green and black haired teen. Why had he run off so fast? What was so important for a teenager that he had to collide into a stranger and barely apologize? Sure, Danny had done it but that was different-he was a hero and had an excuse even if others couldn't know- so what was exactly going on with this teen?

The boy ahead skidded to a stop at the park, catching his breath momentarily. Danny put on an extra burst of speed, hoping to close the distance a little more.

"Hey! Hey wait!" he called. The hazel eyed boy turned around in confusion, the sun brightening his eyes into a mesmerizing yellow. Danny puffed out a breath as he stopped behind him.

"Hi," the 15 year old said as he regained his breath. "What's the big rush? I mean did you need help or something? I can go get my parents if you do…" Danny covered, trying to make a believable reason for following the boy.

"Uh… Well I was just, uh…" The teen looked down at an ice blue colored vile in his hand before shoving it into his pocket with a nervous smile.

"What's that? You taking drugs or something?" Danny joked, extremely curious as to what the tube held in reality. "Name's Danny by the way." He introduced.

"Um, Jake," the black and green haired boy introduced. "Sorry for running into you back there. I was just…kinda… had to do…something?" the teen ended in more of a question then statement. He was staring really hard at Danny, causing the raven haired boy to feel uncomfortable. "Do I know you?"

Danny blinked in surprise at the question, rubbing the back of his neck in awkwardness. "Uh, well I haven't seen you around before. So probably not." He answered. "Why?"

"You just look kind of familiar…" Jake murmured before shrugging. "Oh well, it was probably just a dream or something. I should probably jet, I'm losing, uh, something." The boy looked away as he caught himself.

Danny opened his mouth to reply when a chilly puff of breath escaped his mouth. _Seriously?_ He thought in annoyance. "Yeah, I gotta get back to my friends…" the blue eyed boy began backing up.

"Speaking of friends, I should find mine…" Jake said, glancing about. "See ya!" He rushed off again, leaving Danny to dash the other way. He slipped past an African American girl and American boy hurriedly, muttering an, "excuse me," as he did. Sam, Tucker, and Jazz weren't too far behind them.

"Danny where are you-?"

"Ghost," the teen whispered before jetting off. "Be back in a sec!"

Danny ducked into an ally way before letting the ice colored rings pass over him, transforming him into Danny Phantom. The hero jumped into the air and drifted back to the park invisibly, looking around for any signs of a ghost. The flash of black and green in his peripheral view caught Danny's attention and he turned quickly, expecting the ninja to be smugly smiling back at him.

"Alright ninja thing, you better… Wait what?" A figure gazed up at him from a roof top, red eyes taunting him.

"What? Am I not who you were looking for?" it called, white hair blowing in the wind.

Danny snorted. "Not currently. But you work just as well. Tell me what's going on." He demanded, floating a little bit closer. "What are you and what do you want?"

The duplicate chuckled quietly, sending chills through Danny's veins. "Well isn't obviousss? I'm _you. _As for what'sss going on, I'm just having a little fun with some friendsss. I'm sure you've met at least one of them, R. He said you were very seriousss; maybe you should lighten up a little. You never know when you should go easy on sssomeone." He mocked, eyes flashing with delight at Danny's heated expression.

"I'm not in the mood for games. Who's this 'master' I've heard of?" The hero growled, hands glowing blue.

"Tsk, tsssssk. You really are no fun. Let me say that I've almost got what I want. And my master, well, you'll meet him soon enough. But he'll be delighted when all of you are together, you can trust me on that."

"All of us? What do you mean-" A blast of heat erupted on Danny's shoulder, causing him to crash into the roof. Danny looked up with enraged green eyes. "Seriously? Is this the way we're going to meet every time?" he called up to the red dragon above him.

"Oh would you look at that. I ssssupose I'll be going now. Have fun." The duplicate Danny waved a hand before disappearing in a vortex of swirling black and green smoke.

"So there is a double…" the dragon whispered mainly to himself. "That means you," the yellow eyes were turned on Danny, relief and realization swimming in his gaze. "You gotta come with me yo! I can help you!" The serpent swooped down toward Danny, arms outstretched to grab him. Danny rolled to the side, pushing himself into the air.

"Over my dead body," the ghost boy spat, eyes narrowed.

"But you're already dead right? I mean it looks like you're a ghost from all of the research I've done on them. That wouldn't exactly- what am I saying, this is important! I'm not crazy about taking a ghost back to the shop but I don't really-"

Danny shot a ghost ray at the dragon in irritation, eyes glowing a bright green. "Never in a thousand years. You can keep your master to yourself."

"What? Man, let me just see," the dragon grabbed Danny and sliced swiftly through the jumpsuit where the bruise was. The ghost phased out of the red creatures grasp quickly. "See that's the same marking I've got on my leg. Look, we gotta go, I can explain things on the way."

Danny glared before disappearing, his voice echoing around the dragon. "Keep your stupid mark to yourself. This ghost isn't easily fooled."

* * *

**Meh, I'm not crazy about this chapter but it's out, I'm done with it, and I'm done with my writers block. WOO!**

**Leave a review for any questions or comments you want me to see! I appreciate them! :D**

**Updated 09/28/13**


	12. Chapter 12 - Three Meetings

**(Authors Notes)**

**AHA! I succeded! Oh yeah baby, chapter 12 is done! **

**(Disclaimer: not mine, characters probably aren't yours, last time I'm saying it, blah blah blah)**

**p.s Sorry Nerdgirl3, I didn't add in your cameo in this chapter, I couldn't find a right place but next chapter for sure! :)**

**and the challenge still stands! Any more guesses? **

* * *

Chapter 12 – Three meetings, Three disappearances, Three questions

Trixie and Spud awkwardly stood in the park next to the three other teenagers as they waited for Jake, both squirming uncomfortably as they prayed these kids weren't too observant. Jake had hastily ran off when the Tracker potion had locked onto one of the closer creatures that was cursed, leaving Trixie and Spud hopelessly far behind. They had decided to wait in the park for Jake to come back after he dragoned up and went to consult the ghost. The three teen friends of the black haired boy had found and decided to wait with them for some reason, insisting he'd be back soon. Spud coughed quietly before turning to the group with an uncomfortable smile.

"So, uh, where do you guys live?" He asked as he adjusted the beanie on his head.

"We're not from around here," the older, ginger haired girl spoke up. "We're visiting from Amity Park with my parents."

"Oh. That's nice…" Trixie replied. "Must be nice to get away from your hometown."

The Goth girl snorted. "You have no idea."

A thunderous bang sounded above from one of the buildings on the right, little bits of debris sailing off of the building. Trixie cringed silently at Jake's loud mistake, elbowing Spud in a signal to distract the other teenagers.

"Uh so what's it like in Amity?" Spud asked, jumping in front of the view of the building. The African American with the red beret shuffled a little, trying to see around the 14 year old.

"It's crazy," The ginger girl began, cocking her head only for her friends to see. "We have, uh, well interesting neighbors I guess is a good way to describe them."

"Yeah," the techno geek piped in, glancing sideways at the Goth. "They're a real riot. They have, uh, _killer_ parties." He giggled to himself at some inside joke, confusing the two New Yorkers.

"Interesting?" Spud questioned, shaking his head of his puzzled thoughts. "New York has strange things too. Oh! Like one time, my buddy Jake and I were out and this random uni-" The boy grunted as Trixie stepped on his foot, trying to cut him off before any classified information left his mouth.

"So, yeah…" The conversation died with Trixie's words, causing the silence to fall back over the five teenagers.

"You gotta come with me yo!" The sound of Jake's voice rang down from the roof top, barely audible to Trixie and Spud. The African American girl shifted again, pleading that only she and Spud had heard. The ginger turned her head up to the building where the fight was taking place, worry flashing across her face before she realized she was being watched. The greenish-blue eyed teen quickly changed her expression into confusion, acting as if she didn't know what was happening.

"Roof top parties. What're you gonna do?" Trixie chuckled nervously.

A minute later Jake appeared, his features plastered with failure. He put on a fake smile when he saw the three new faces staring at him quietly.

"Hi," he greeted quickly then turned to Trixie and Spud. "No luck guys, I couldn't catch that, uh, dog. We'll have to try again later." The hero said quietly. Trixie nodded in understanding. Spud just blinked.

"Hey," The blue eyed boy returned, out of breath as he walked to his friends. "I didn't get a lot of information from-" the teen by the name of Danny, if Jake recalled, glanced nervously at the black and green haired boy and his friends. "-that um, tourist guide."

"What were you guys looking for? We can help! I mean we are New Yorkers." Spud suggested, gesturing to the trio.

"Lunch," The Goth stated. "We were trying to find a nice restaurant to go to. I guess some deli would be good."

"Oh sure, there's a deli by my gramps' shop," Jake proposed, jabbing his thumb in the direction the restaurant was. "We can take you there, we'll be heading that way anyway."

"Thanks," Danny said, following behind Jake. "What does your Grandpa do?"

"He sells and fixes electronics." Jake answered, rounding the park corner.

"And happens to have a back room full of magi- ow!" Trixie glared at Spud quietly, shaking her head.

Danny blinked. "I guess we should formally introduce ourselves," he suggested with a smile. "I'm Danny Fenton, and this is my sister Jasmine Fenton,"

"Jazz is fine though. I'd prefer that." The ginger girl stated.

"This is Sam Manson,"

"Goth girl and Ultra-Recyclo-Vegetarian." She added, her violet eyes shining in the sun.

"And Tucker Foley, techno geek and complete goof." Danny chuckled, nudging his friend.

"Harde-har. Why don't we introduce you as the boy whose half-Oomph!" Sam landed a hard blow in the middle of Tucker's back.

"Yeah Tuck! And then we can shove you into first period with nothing but your stupid beret on when we get home!" the Goth exclaimed sarcastically.

"Sheesh, I was just joking."

Jake smirked and raised an eyebrow. This bunch of teens was weird, in a nice sort of way. "I'm Jake Long, this here is Trixie Carter and then you've got Arthur Spudinski, but we call him Spud for short." He introduced.

"We don't really have roles, just a crew who likes skateboarding and… well you get the point." Trixie added, shrugging her shoulders.

"Cool," Danny replied as they walked up to the deli called _New Yorker Subs. _Jake's stomach growled when the smell of lunch meat and sizzling French fries hit his nose. He grabbed his gut in unease, grinning shyly at the other teenagers.

"Do you mind if we join you? I forgot to eat breakfast this morning." _And sandwiches sound really good._ He added to himself.

"Why not? It's a free country." Tucker responded, eying the menu above the counter.

"I'm gonna run to the bathroom first, try not to leave without me." Danny joked to his friends before turning and heading off.

"I think I'll get my usual, bacon and cheese Panini." Spud announced to the cashier.

"Chicken salad sandwich." Trixie added.

"I'll go with the tuna fish sub." Jake handed over the money and picked out a booth in the corner, setting their order number down on the table. The three other teenagers joined, whispering to themselves quietly before they pulled up extra chairs. The waitress swiftly came and set down the plates for Jake's order, Spud digging in the moment she left. The hazel eyed teen noticed a ginger haired boy sitting by himself at the next table over, grumbling quietly. He looked familiar for some reason…

Danny returned with a purple haired boy following behind him, both teenagers splitting up as they headed to their tables. Jake blinked, trying to pin where and who the boy was. Then it clicked.

"…Randy?" he called out. The skinny teen looked up at the sound of his name, blue eyes filled with perplexity before he too realized he knew the boy who had addressed him.

"Jake? Wow, I didn't expect to see you again this soon if at all!" Randy called out, standing back up. "How bruce is this?"

_There's that word again._ "I didn't either. The world is crazy like that," The green and black haired boy rose and shuffled out of his seat, gesturing to the table of people behind him. "Guys, meet Randy. I met him out at a gas station Friday evening. Randy this is Trixie, Spud, Danny, Jazz, Sam, and Tucker… Right?" he questioned. Danny nodded. "We all just met," Jake explained, shrugging with a smile. "I guess I should have expected you to pop up by the way I've been meeting people this week."

Randy waved. "Hey," he nudged the ginger to his feet. "This is Howard."

Howard grunted. "Hi."

"He's a little grumpy right now."

"Am not." The short boy protested, sitting back down and crossing his arms over his chest.

"What are you doing here? Just in the neighborhood?" Jake asked, taking his own seat.

"Yeah. We weren't exactly supposed to go this far from our hotel but I got a little distracted, I guess," Randy smirked, some hidden message flitting in his brain. "We ended up here afterwards."

"Cool, well it's just nice to see you again." The hazel eyed boy responded, taking a bite of his sub.

* * *

Lunch ended with a fit of teenage laughter coming from the back of the deli, customers rolling their eyes at the disturbance. The nine young adults sat together, telling stories and jokes from their towns and school.

Tucker wiped a tear from his eye, sitting up as another tale popped into his brain.

"Oh man, do you guys remember when Spectra came to school the first time?"

"How could any of us forget?" Jazz shivered at the remembrance of the ghost therapist, though five out of nine of them only knew that in reality she had been a beauty obsessed ghost willing to kill to stay young.

"The only good thing about that was when she put Danny in a… baby…. costume!" The techno geek managed between his snorts of snickering. Eight of the teenagers let out small giggles.

"Come on, it wasn't that funny." Danny huffed, a small smile spreading across his face.

"Oh man, I would pay a basket of gravy fries to see any one over the age of 12 dress up in a baby costume." Howard said, gripping his stomach.

"I'm not even sure how to picture that!" Jake choked out, his grin extending from one side of his face to the other.

"Just picture a diaper, a top hat, and a spirit sash on Danny here." Tuck advised.

"Yeah, let's not." The blue eyed boy snorted, rolling his eyes. Jake suddenly saw a shiver pass through his body, the air fogging in front of Danny as he gasped.

"What…?" Jake began, furrowing his eyebrows.

"I'll be right back…" The 15 year old jumped from his seat, dashing for the bathroom without another word.

"Should I even ask?" Randy wondered aloud, tensing in the chair he was seated in.

"He'll be back in a sec," Sam said, following Danny with her eyes. "I hope."

Jake wasn't sure whether he was meant to hear the last part or not but the question didn't make it past his lips before screaming erupted outside of the building, causing the remaining kids to jolt up from their places at the table. The teen hero bolted from the table when the shrieks intensified, curving a path to the back door through the people inside the shop. Once out, Jake crouched behind a garbage can and peered out, wondering if he could do anything. His question was answered with a burst of black mist hurtling into the ally way.

"Dragon Up!" Adrenaline pumped into Jake's body as he took to his hero form, red scales glinting in the sunlight.

"We just did this!" A voice sounded behind him, directed at a different person. "Can't we take a break or something? For like, ever?" The ghost's voice echoed around the passage where three individuals stood, chilling the blood in Jake even more.

"We can take a break when the world is in my mastersss claws."

"Not gonna happen," The white haired boy replied, crossing his arms over his chest as he floated above the Dark Mist Duplicate. Jake charged at the copy, raising an arm with knife sharp claws and swiped down on the unsuspecting being. The creature hissed as red smoke piled out of it's back, spinning around with bright, burning red eyes. It smiled an evil smile, eyes screaming bloody murder at Jake.

"Look who shhhhowed up. That means number three will be here in three, two,"

Red smoke emitted from nowhere in the alley, a black and red figure crouching abaft the two heroes and duplicate.

"One." The creature finished with a smug beam wrapping it's face.

"Ok smokies, get ready to be ninja slapped-why are there two of you?" The warrior questioned the ghost, voice brimming with confusion.

"Oh there's no time for that," The duplicate stated, pushing himself off of the wall where he had began leaning. "R, J, get 'em!" Two more Dark Mist figures appeared; a smoky ninja and a smoky dragon towering over the three heroes.

Jake went to make a move but he couldn't, the alley way was beginning to fill with the mist again. A sickening filling of dread washed over the dragon hero as memories from the day before poured back into his mind. The Dark Mist version of the dragon protector lunged at Jake, the red hue brightening as it's smoke surrounded him. Then the cold, black darkness enveloped his mind, casting him into unconsciousness and complete vulnerability.

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**I know, I'm a horrible person for ending it here. But let's be honest, when your writing the story, cliffhangers are AWE-SOME. **

**Don't forget to review and check that challenge out! :)**

**Updated 09/29/13**


	13. Chapter 13 - Little Uniting Girl

**Hey guys! I know, I know, I'm late! Sorry, I think I will have to change the update to every two weeks, but if it helps I'll try to get out two chapters every time I update! (Don't hold me to that, I said I'll try X))**

**Anyway here is chapter 13 where we get a little bit of info on our mystery villain! I still tried to keep the description of him low so that I keep you guys guessing until he crawls out of his little lair :D**

**Reviews help me write! Be sure to leave one if you want! :)**

**CHALLENGE: Ok, so the challenge has ended! They were kinda tricky but Nerdgirl3 got one.**

**1) The restaurant that Randy and Howard go to (Nacirema Dragon) is actually American Dragon, with American spelled backwards!**

**2) The other restaurant that Howard wanted to go to (Outta Dimension Pizza) is where I was hinting at the ghost zone. (That one was kinda lame, I know XP)**

**3) Danny's room number (Room 403) hints at the series premiere for Danny Phantom, which was April 3rd of 2007**

**4) Randy and Howard's room number (Room 917) hints at the series premiere for Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja, which was September 17, 2012**

**So there you have it! The challenge answers which means the challenge is over! **

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**Thanks to everyone who reviewed and made me smile! :D**

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Chapter 13 – Little Uniting Girl

Randy snapped his eyes open, completely alert to the surrounding darkness. The last thing he remembered was a carbon copy of himself lunging at him and circling him in a veil of black and slightly purple smoke. The teenager blinked as he tried to make out anything in the blackness that would allow a clue for his current location. Randy walked forward a few paces, slowly, quietly, making sure not to warn any enemies that may be around to his presence. The ninja stopped as he neared some kind of wall that was black as well. He put his hands up to the obstacle and pushed. It wouldn't budge. He knocked on it and it let out a semi-loud echo that sounded like a glass window. Abruptly a light came on over head, casting Randy into a tinge of a bluish-white glow inside some sort of tube shaped cage.

"Welcome," A voice called out from the shadows, chilling the hero's blood. "To a very important… meeting, I suppose you could call it. I'm bursting with joy to finally have all of you locked up here."

_All of us?_ Randy wondered to himself, looking around in confusion. As far as he could tell he was the only one in the dark room or whatever it was. He glanced up and spotted a loud speaker above the cage, dimly lit by the light over him. A new voice joined over the intercom, speaking the question that was on Randy's mind.

"What do you mean 'all of us'? I'm the only one here as far as I can see." It sounded like the ghost's voice by the amount of echo in the background.

"Ah that's where you're wrong Phantom. We'll get to introductions later with everyone else; we have much more demanding things to discuss. Besides, you've all already met several ways," A pause and a small chuckle could be heard from the speaker, then the villain cleared his throat. "Now, I'm sure that you're all wondering who I am. Well, my name is Vureem. A dull name, I know. But it tells a lot more about me than I thought. You see I-"

Randy snorted as he rolled his eyes, glaring up at the speaker. "How is this relevant to anything?" he asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"You heroes have no respect," Vureem snapped back, something crashing in the background. "If you would let me finish my story before interrupting, it would make a lot more sense! Now, before I was so rudely disrupted, I was saying that my name means lots more. I don't remember much from my childhood, but the little things I do are standard kid things. Happiness, being surrounded by friends and family. My father however," A small sniff could be heard before being quickly covered up by a growl. "He always pushed me to do perfect on everything, was always so… so tense around me…"

* * *

_A small wail rung through a cave as a young Vureem emerged into the world. An elder and father stood by, watching as the young one took his first few breaths. The elder smiled and walked to the newborn, putting his hands on him gently. He closed his eyes and slowed his breathing with Vureem wiggling beneath the pressure. The father anxiously watched the elder and his only son, quietly waiting for the senior to finish before his worst fear came true. The elder jerked back suddenly, gasping in terror with a horror struck heart. _

"_No, this can't be right." The elder murmured with a shaky voice. "I'm… I'm sorry Ormarr. Your son, he is destined for evil things."_

_Ormarr stepped back, shaking his head in disbelief. "No. Not my son. He was to follow in my footprints, be protector of the village. Your vision, it has to be wrong." _

"_Ormarr, when have my visions ever been wrong?" the elder replied quietly, looking down at the bundle in the small nest of twigs and leafs. "His name will be Vureem."_

"_But that meaning… Please Ladon, let me work with him. He will grow up in the village and learn right from wrong. He will become protector; he will be a wise and mighty leader."_

_Ladon sighed, his troubled gaze meeting Ormarr's. "Nephew, you have much to learn still. It doesn't matter where Vureem grows up. Visions do not lie, no matter how much we wished they did. _

_Ormarr opened his mouth to speak but Ladon stopped him with a wave of his hand. "Vureem will live in the village as you wish, but I fear that his presence will put everyone at risk."_

* * *

"_Dad, can I be done. Please? We've been practicing so much even my claws hurt." A teenage Vureem complained, rubbing his side._

"_No son, do it again. If there was an attack on the village you would need to have this move perfected. More kick, remember to strike out with your back claws as well." Ormarr instructed._

_Vureem sighed and rolled his ruby colored eyes as he crouched down. He jumped into the air, hovering for a moment before thrusting out his leg with nails extended. _

"_Hiya!" he yelled as he attacked an imaginary enemy. The young creature landed on the ground with a thud, losing his balance from a large gust of wind._

_Ormarr sighed, rubbing his face. "No, no Vureem! Use the wind to your advantage! Any enemy will take gain of a weakness like that. Try it once mo-" The ground rumbled underneath the father and son, causing them both to become more alert. Ormarr felt his heart drop as green mist edged the clearing where the two were training. "We must warn the village. Go get your mother and sisters." The older creature told his son as he turned back, ready to get the warriors. "Vureem, did you hear me?" There was no response._

_Vureem took a step towards the mist, completely entranced by it. His red eyes danced with the motion of the fog as it seemed to beckon him toward it. _

"_Vureem!" Ormarr shouted as his son dashed forward and reached out to touch the smoke. "No… the vision," The father advanced toward Vureem, stretching out for his son's tail at a last attempt to stop him. "Stop this! Get away from it!" _

_Vureem ignored his father, leaping into the smoke. His nose flared and eyes grew as he was enveloped into the bitter, swamp smelling mist, but to him it smelled like flowers and honey. The last thing he heard was the hoarse yell of his father before passing out. _

* * *

"I do remember my best friend. Funny fellow, but somewhat serious. Green skin, short for what he did. Truly, you wouldn't expect him to wreak havoc the way he did. He took me in when I was abandoned from my village. He taught me, trained me, and showed me all of the deadliest weapons that he knew of. We had the best adventures, causing chaos wherever we went. But then," Vureem's memory filled voice hardened. "800 years ago, _your stupid hero ancestors showed up ninja_." He spat, dragging his claws against the wall in fury. "Locked him up beneath some town, cut him off from the world except for his smoke. It was the only way we talked, until finally some stupid dragon protectors found me. I fought back, used all of the training I could remember that Sorce taught me but it didn't work. And you know what?" Vureem paused, letting the silence draw out. "They _killed _me. The little liars said it was an accident but they meant to kill me. Then they stuck me in the Undead Forest, expecting me to live the rest of my afterlife there. Ha!" The villain chortled quietly, the laugh dripping with pure hatred. "I found a way out obviously. Yeah, imagine that freeing a black mist would release me too. Never would have thought of it but hey, I'm fine with it."

Randy heard a sigh from the intercom that mirrored his own thoughts.

"Are you done now? I've hear a lot of villain back stories, this one is a lot like the others." It sounded like the dragon was talking as far as the ninja could identify. Randy couldn't help but chuckle at the comment; enemy origins were pretty boring, although that green guy sounded familiar to him.

Vureem hissed, his voice becoming darker and edged with fury. "Well excuse me for trying to enlighten you about myself. Next time I'll skip everything and leave you in the dark," he scoffed. "And no, I was not done. Before your stupid dragon cousins or ancestors found me, Sorce told me what my name meant. Would you like to know?" Another break.

Randy sighed, flattening himself on his back on the floor of his cage. "Get on with it please!"

"Vureem means buried, cave, submerged, _underground_." He whispered quietly, barely audible for the heroes to hear. "Somehow my parents knew what would happen in my future."

The ninja suddenly felt a small spark of sympathy for the villain as the voice saddened, but it didn't last long. The ceiling above began shaking, debris raining down around the glass tube. Randy could hardly hear the screams over him as people ran around in panic.

"What's happening?" The ghost boy yelled at Vureem in anger.

Vureem laughed. "The last half of part two for my plan, go ahead, go save the day." The ceilings over each container opened up, allowing bright sunlight to pour into the rooms as a click sounded over the intercom. "If anything you'll be doing me a favor."

Randy hesitated before he jumped out of the tube and into chaos. What was that suppose to mean? But there wasn't time to dwell on the topic, the Dark Duplicates were on a rampage around the city, attacking people and destroying buildings. The ninja leapt towards the nearest copy, the dragon from the looks of it.

"Hey smoke scales! Drop the coffee mug and no one gets hurt!"

J turned around with a smug smirk, tail swishing from side to side. "And you're gonna make me?" he asked with a snort. "Alright, alright, here you go. Take the ssstupid mug." The duplicate shot into the air after chucking the coffee at Randy who swiftly dodged at the last second.

"Hey watch it! That stuff is hot, unlike a Ninja Cold Ball!" The hero tossed three ice blue colored balls up at the dragon, who spun in the air, two of the freezing spheres sailing towards the ghost boy. The third ball hit J's tail, freezing it entirely. The duplicate dipped in the air and flapped his smoky wings faster in order to stay air born.

Randy heard a yelp from the other side of the street as the two other cold balls went off right behind the ghost, allowing him to receive a glare from the specter. He smiled awkwardly before turning back to the copy at hand that was slowly losing elevation. The teen hero jumped onto a windowsill from a nearby building and propelled himself to the duplicate, shoving off with a powerful push from his legs. The ninja took out his sword and prepared to swipe down on the enemy's tail. J hissed in rage as the blade cut through the ice and body part, the smoke instantly vaporizing into the air. The doppelganger spun on Randy as the tail grew back from the smoke, lashing out with his back legs. Randy cringed in pain as the claws slashed through the suit and pierced his skin, glistening red blood welling out of the cut as he fell back to the ground. He gripped his chest from the pain as he scowled up at J who was returning it with a grin.

"Oh I'm ssssorry. Did I hurt the strong, brave ninja?" The duplicate taunted, batting his crimson eyes at Randy.

"I believe the ninja hurt you," The hero returned, a blue glow forming between his two hands. The dragon grunted as a ball of air met with his stomach, sending him crashing into a bill board atop a building. "Why don't you give me a real challenge?"

J looked up through narrowed eyes, a small snarl crawling from his throat. "Oh, I see. Sure, I'll even have R and D help!" the copy pushed off from the board and flew down to the base of the advertisement, extending his claws as the two other duplicates abandoned their fights. "Why don't you try this!" With a swift swipe, the dragon and ninja sliced through the supporting beams, letting the ghost boy push the board off of the building. Randy's eyes widened as he predicted the falling path taken by the bill board, aiming straight toward a group of civilians at the bottom. The ninja shot into action, sprinting to the people underneath.

"Everyone move!" he screamed, glancing up at the bill board hurtling toward them all. The people turned to look in the direction that Randy was gazing at before screams erupted. A little girl with amethyst colored hair slipped in the middle of the chaos, her grayish-blue pigeon colored dress scattering rocks and dust around her. She looked up at the rapidly approaching board with horror filled sapphire blue eyes before shutting them tight. The ninja darted to the child, wrapping her in a defending hug as all daylight was blotted out above them. Randy waited for the bone crushing impact to fall upon them but suddenly felt a strikingly cold hand lay onto his shoulder. A funny, light sort of feeling overcame him as the hand gripped tighter, the air howling above him before a loud thud sounded on the left side of the three beings. The teen hero cracked open an eye in astonishment as he realized that there was no pain. He looked above him and saw the ghost boy hovering with his hands planted on Randy and the little girl's shoulder. To his right the dragon had his arms above him, holding the bill board up with all of his remaining strength. The hero looked down at himself and realized he could see through his own body as the ghost boy flew them all out from under the bill board then went back for the dragon. Randy blinked at the two other beings before turning to the little girl who was still closely huddled against him, her dresses sleeves almost reaching the ground.

"Kanade!" a womanly voice cried out in anguish. "Kanade, my baby, where are you!" the girl opened her eyes, looking around as someone called her name.

"I'm right here!" she called out as she glanced up at Randy. "Thank you. A lot!" she ran off toward the woman who had called her name, her short bangs waving back and forth in her face as the rest of her hair trailed out behind her.

"Oh Kanade! Thank god! But look at your white button up, it's so dirty." The lady fretted, fixing her daughter's hair.

"Mom, that guy saved me! I was gonna be crushed but somehow he got me out." Randy blushed at the description of the previous moment, waving slightly at the woman who gazed at him with a thankful smile.

"Actually, there were three of us…" The ninja twisted to try and find the other two heroes but there were no signs of them. They had already dashed off as far as he could see. Randy shrugged and headed toward the nearest alley, preparing to take off his mask. As he reached up toward his head, the two icy cold hands returned to him and lifted him off the ground, grabbing his mouth before he could scream. He was quickly set down in a different passage where the dragon waited quietly, rubbing his shoulder. The ghost boy materialized at the other end of the alley with his arms crossed, looking questioningly at the dragon who speedily spoke up when he saw the two other heroes.

"We need to talk. Now."

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**Ta-Da! :D**

**I'm thinking this story is winding down now but I don't know how many more chapters I have left. It makes me sad to even think it'll be coming to an end soon! It is my first fanfiction after all so this is very emotional :'( lol X3**

**Be sure to review!**

**Updated 10/13/13**


	14. Chapter 14 - Finally a Truce

**Hey Guys! Chapter 14 is finally here!**

**Sorry it took long, and unfortunately I don't have another chapter for you. :( But if it helps, I had a dream about this story (which actually somewhat stayed to the plot X3) and it helped me figure out the rest of the story. I've got a base plot for each chapter now, and it seems that Dark Connections will have around 21 chapters. :)**

**Anyways, I hope you all enjoy the chapter! **

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**Review Questions and Answers**

_**Lyres**_**: Thanks for the advice! I tried to keep all the paragraphs shorter this chapter X)**

_**AkiTsuki-chan:**_**Thank you! And you can do fanart whenever you want! :D**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed! :)**

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Chapter 14 – Finally a Truce

"We need to talk. Now."

Danny sighed and crossed his arms, his toxic eyes sweeping over the two other beings in front of him. He still didn't trust them fully. Sure, they both helped him save innocent citizens and they had been fighting off the duplicates, but wasn't there such a thing as two masks?

"About what?" The ninja asked, narrowing his sapphire blue eyes. "Any funny business and I'm out of here."

The ghost boy glanced back at the dragon as he raised an eyebrow, silently agreeing with the black and red clad warrior.

"About this," the red serpent pointed to his leg and revealed a blackish-purple bruise.

"What about it? As far as I know it could just be a simple bruise you received doing something dangerous." _Except that I have a bruise that looks exactly like it. _Danny wordlessly added, internally shivering at the creepy scenario. Did the ninja have one too?

The dragon puffed and rolled his eyes at Danny. "Come on yo! I know you've got one too whether you want to admit it or not Snowy."

The ghost's eyes flashed a bright green. "Ok one, _please_ stop calling me that. Two, I'm not just going to admit to some dead dragon that I may or may not have a bruise like yours. Besides, if I did have such a bruise, why is it important anyway?"

"Whoa dude, I' m not dead. No offense."

"So you're a real dragon then?"

"Uh, yeah. I thought a ghost would know about the magical- ugh never mind." The ruby creature returned the conversation to the original topic. "The point is these things are dangerous."

"How so? Isn't it just a stupid mark?" The ninja asked while he glanced at his arm.

"You guys are missing the point!"

"Then get to the point!" Danny snapped, losing his temper. _Sheesh, it's a good thing I don't know these two in reality!_

"Watch it ghost! I'm the one trying to save you." The Dragon retorted, towering over the dead teen in rage.

"No, the only thing you're doing is wasting our time!" Danny replied with green glowing hands.

"Hey don't bring me into this! You dragged me here in the first place, I didn't really get a say." The warrior cut in.

"Are you two for real right now? This meeting is more important than your afterlife obsessions or stupid ninja training!"

The argument exploded at this, each teenager throwing insults and complaints out while the others groaned angrily and clenched their fists. Emerald green eyes burned with fury. Long, black claws scraped against the nearby dumpster in frustration. A sword created sparks from the ground as the holder gestured back in forth in aggravation. Danny was just about to fly out of the crowded alley when the dragon said something that caught his attention.

"We could all potentially die right now and you two don't seem to care!"

Danny turned back to the other heroes as he planted his feet on the ground. "What do you mean we could die? These bruises surely can't do that much damage right?" The ninja nodded in agreement, both of them staring at the serpent as they waited for his explanation.

"Seriously? Think back to when the black mist showed up in your lives? Didn't something weird happen to you or another? For me one of my friends got possessed! If it can do that, I'm pretty sure it wouldn't have a problem with killing one of us. Plus that stuff is still inside of us, it didn't just disappear from our bodies without a trace."

Now that Danny thought back to the Thursday he first got his bruise, it had possessed Lancer. And then Friday morning, when he was duplicated it had hurt a lot. Maybe the dragon did have a point…

"So if it could kill us, why hasn't it already?" The ninja questioned, tucking his sword into a hidden compartment on his back.

"I'm actually not sure," the crimson creature admitted, rubbing his head. "I think that Vureem is in control of what it does. I guess he hasn't commanded the mist to kill us yet."

"But he possibly could destroy us at any moment?" Danny inquired, his eyes widening slightly at the gruesome thought.

"Well, I guess. That's why we need to stop him. If he has the mist and we defeat him somehow, it should be released. Then we just need to catch it and return it to the Undead Forest."

"Where's that?" The martial artist's eyebrows furrowed in confusion (even though they couldn't physically see them).

"Um… what did Fu say…?" The dragon murmured under his breath. "Something like the dead… dimension. The dead zone?"

"The Ghost Zone?" Danny suggested.

The dragon's eyes lit up in recognition of the name before he turned to the ghost boy. "Yeah! Then we have to put it in the Cave of Darkness. Have you seen something like that before?"

"Not that I can remember, but I'm sure we could ask a few ghosts when we get to-" Danny shuddered as his breath fogged in front of him and gazed around the alley.

"What?" The dragon asked, automatically straightening his posture into a defensive one.

"There's a ghost around," the halfa replied. "I'm gonna check it out from the sky real quick." He shot into the sky as he disappeared from view, rotating his outlook when he got to a good elevation. The people on the ground looked like ants, a man seemed to be shouting at a hot dog stand, and was that his parents in the park? Otherwise everything seemed normal. However, a dark figure in a nearby alley caught the ghost boy's attention. He narrowed his eyes as he identified the black smoke swirling around the figure who was then joined by two others. It looked like they were trying to find something.

Danny quickly soared back to the alley with the dragon and ninja, staying afloat as he reached their level. "It's the duplicates," he quickly explained. "It looks like they're looking for something. Do you know what?"

The dragon shrugged, opening his wings as he prepared for flight. "You want a ride?" he asked the ninja, but he was already picking the warrior up by his arms. The trio took to the sky, Danny in the lead as he led them to where he saw the Dark Duplicates. The copies were pointing around at the ground around them, seeming to be deciding where the item was before they began sinking into the cement.

"We lost them," the dragon moaned, beginning to let up on his speed.

"Not quite yet, hold on." Danny took hold of the ninja and dragon's arms before turning intangible and invisible and phasing into the ground.

The heroes silently flew through the soil while looking for the doppelgangers'. Suddenly they entered a large underground room that appeared to be empty to the trio except for the slight glow of red, green, and purple.

"It'ssss around here somewhere. Vureem said we'd find it around here." R said.

"Well I don't sssseee it anywhere. Are you sure we've got the right placccee?"

"It hasss to be the right place J. I'm pretty sure Massster said it was next to the old meeting tunnel!"

The three teen heroes glanced at each other from the shadows, quizzical expressions plastered to their faces. The ninja moved his foot on the rocks they had sat down on, trying to get a better view of the duplicates. He waved his arms when his foot caught while he attempted to regain his balance, a rock plunging down the mound and creating echoing clicks as it bounced off of the others.

"Shh." Dark Danny quieted before spinning around. "I don't think we're the only onessss here anymore."

The ninja cringed and smiled at Danny and the dragon nervously. The serpent flared his nose in annoyance before jerking his head to the side, gesturing to them to circle around the duplicates. Danny nodded, turning invisible and flying around to the opposite side of the room. He bobbed his head up and down when he was in position. The dragon and ninja gave thumbs up and they all crouched preparing to attack in three, two, one…

Danny lunged at the closet copy, his hands glowing blue as he prepared an ice beam. The copy had a purple shine to it which indicated it was the ninja, R. The replica yelped as the ghost boy grabbed him and brought him into a wrestling match, both struggling on the ground while trying to gain the upper hand.

Danny brought down his chilly charged hands onto R's chest, sending a shock of pure cold through the duplicate. R gazed back at Danny in fury, the rim of his eyes dimming with an ice blue. The teen furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "What the-"

Danny shivered and bit his lip as the copy flipped him over, sucking Danny's power up and turning it into his own. The ghost teenager felt his leg go numb as the frosty beam surged through it which temporarily brought him to the ground while he willed his ghost power to melt it. R stood up with a smug smile and sprinted off down the tunnel, phasing into the wall.

"He's getting away!" Danny alerted the others, but unless the other two could walk through walls it was useless. Jumping to his feet, the ghost boy concentrated all of his power into his leg and shattered the ice around it. He flew after R and sunk into the next room, glancing around for the doppelganger. Black and purple flashed by him with an echoing laugh, adding on, "You three are too late! Vureem will be free ssssoon, and there won't be anything you can do about it!"

Danny reached out to grab R, managing to get a hold on his leg. R hissed at Danny who momentarily caught a glance at the item in the replica's hand. Before the ghost could ask, R crashed back through the wall and signaled to D and J that he had the item. The two other duplicates grinned and swiftly finished their battles with a flash of red, green, and whirling black smoke.

Panting from the battle, the heroes stood to their feet and gathered back together.

"Did you get it?" The dragon queried Danny who sighed and slumped his shoulders.

"No, I lost him," he murmured. "But I did get a glance at it. It was gold with black symbols on the side, and about the size and shape of a dodge ball." The specter said as he motioned with his hands.

"Huh," the dragon pondered, rubbing a burn on his arm. "I can ask my dog if he knows anything when I get back home. Then tomorrow we can meet back up at the alley and I'll tell you guys what I know. So… truce?"

"Ask your dog?" The ninja questioned in confusion.

"Yeah, my dog Fu is my magical protector. He knows a lot of things about mythical objects and what not."

The ninja stood there quietly, taking in what the dragon had said and trying to convince himself that it was real. "O…kay…" he finally said.

Danny nodded, holding out his hand. "Truce. I think I can classify you guys as allies. What're your names?"

"Just call me Ninja."

"I'm the American Dragon or Jake." The dragon introduced.

"Jake?" Danny asked, his heart freezing.

"Yeah, why? Is that ok to be my name? I mean I really don't have a choice, it's what my parents named me."

"Uh, yeah. I just know a Jake is all. It caught me off guard. Nothing important." The ghost teen replied.

"And you are?" the ninja inquired.

"Oh, yeah. I'm Phantom. "

"Classy." The ninja chuckled, reaching out to shake.

Danny phased the Ninja and Jake back up to the surface after they all shook on it, waving before taking off to find Sam, Tucker and Jazz. He headed back to the restaurant they had been eating at and returned to Danny Fenton. He walked inside and looked around but couldn't find the three other teenagers. Danny scratched his head and shrugged, figuring that they all had headed back to Jack and Maddie.

When he got back to his parents who were still busily working on tracking the black mist, there was still no sign of Jazz, Tucker, or Sam. Strange, they would usually wait for him or head back home or to his house in Amity. Maybe they went to the hotel? But Danny had a hunch that the three wouldn't trek all the way back to the hotel, especially with no means of transportation.

He quickly veered away from the park to avoid questioning from his mom and dad, keeping his eyes open for any sign of the 15 and 17 year olds. A sly, white smile came into view as Danny passed Jake's Grandpa's shop once again. There was just enough light coming from the alley behind that he made out six figures, three of which he identified before they were whisked away in smoke. Tucker, Sam, and Jazz.

* * *

**There you guys go! I'm not too sure about this chapter but meh. **

**I also forgot to tell you guys that I have a tumblr and deviantart!**

**Tumblr (a fan account for the Secret Trio) - thesecrettrioofdjr**

**DeviantART (I have a few drawings for this story and then just some of my doodles and what not) - tytwix10**

**Don't forget to review! I love all of them and hopefully I'll talk to you guys sooner than the 10th!**

**Updated 10/27/13**


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